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ELEMENTS 



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ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



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Honfton: C. J. CLAY and SONS, 

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 

AVE MARIA LANE. 

^Iassofo: 50, WELLINGTON STREET. 



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THE 

ELEMENTS 



OF 



ENGLISH GRAMMAR 



ALFRED S. WEST, M.A. 

TRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, 
FELLOW OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON. 



ENLARGED EDITION. 

{FIFTY SIXTH TO SEVENTIETH THOUSAND) 



CAMBRIDGE: 
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 

1902 



Key to the Questions contained in Wesfs Elements of 
English Grammar and English Grammar for Beginners, 
by Alfred S. West, M.A. Cambridge University Press. 
Price 3 j*. 6d. net, i 



& 






\* 



First Edition 1893 
Reprinted 1894, 1895, 1897 

New Edition 1898 
Reprinted 1899, 1901, 1902 



B Y TRANSFER 



)UK IS 1<M39 



I Z- ¥02 6 J 



PREFACE, 



THIS book contains the Elements of English Grammar, 
but it does not profess to be a complete manual of 
the English Language. Boys and girls from thirteen to 
seventeen years of age are the readers whose wants it has 
been written to supply. For a treatise intended to meet 
the requirements of older students, a different choice of 
materials would often have been made, and the materials 
chosen would have been treated in a different fashion. 
Hence it will be found that in ' the following pages no 
mention is made of some of the questions which are 
discussed in larger works ; that other questions are touched 
upon, but not probed to the bottom; that here and there 
a definition lacks completeness, logical accuracy being 
sacrificed to intelligibility; and that the details of early 
English accidence have been inserted only when modern 
forms would be inexplicable without them. There are 
elementary books which furnish information so copious 
that young readers cannot* see the wood for the trees. 
One who undertakes to instruct boys and girls needs 
constantly to bear in mind oo-io irkeov yjuLta-v ttolvtos — how 
much the half is greater than the whole, in order that 



vi PREFACE. 

'he may avoid 'the human too much.' The things which 
have been deliberately left out of this small volume would 
have made a big book. 

When we reflect that of every hundred boys and girls 
now learning English Grammar probably not more than 
one will ever read a page of any English author who wrote 
before the age of Elizabeth, it seems needlessly cruel to 
the remaining ninety-and-nine to inflict upon them the 
exhaustive study of historical English accidence. The 
average pupil, for whom the English Grammar lesson 
means mastering lists of strong verbs in half-a-dozen con- 
jugations,-^^ learning that the comparative of 7iear has 
assumed such diverse forms as nyra^ nearra, ?ierre^ nerc, 
nerrer^ or that the word which has at different times been 
written hwilc, whulc, whulch, wuch, wichj and whilk,— 
deserves our sympathy when he complains that English 
Grammar is rather dull Tell him that " English Grammar 
without a reference to the older forms must appear alto- 
gether anomalous, inconsistent, and unintelligible," and 
he will say that, if it is necessary to encounter grim 
battalions of these older forms on every page, the subject 
had better be left severely alone, since it is hardly worch 
while going through so much to get so little. 

Dull, no doubt, some parts of English Grammar, and of 
any other grammar, inevitably are, but the subject as a 
whole is far from being so dull as teachers and treatises 
frequently succeed in making it. A good teacher, who 
takes an interest in the matter himself, will secure the 
interest of a class of quite small- boys, — not merely of 
the good boys at the top, but of the rank and file, of all, 
indeed, save the hopeless residuum who t have taken the 
whole of science ' for their aversion, — while he sketches 
ior them the gradual growth of our language, or talks over 



PREFACE. vii 

with them the difference between Common and Proper 
nouns, or tells them the derivation of curious words like 
liquorice, or treacle, or rhubarb, or supplies them with faulty 
sentences which are to be pulled to pieces and put right. 
Yet even these topics may be so handled as to produce 
depressing results. 

An hour a week is the time usually allotted to the study 
of English Grammar at those schools in which the conflict 
of studies allows it a place in the educational routine. A 
class reading every week seven pages of this book will 
work its way to the end in the course of the school year. 
No attempt has been made to divide the contents into 
'Lessons/ since the number of pages suitable for senior 
students would be too many for juniors. As each chapter 
usually completes the treatment of some important and 
distinct branch of the subject, the chapters vary greatly in 
length, and the amount to be prepared for each lesson must 
be determined at the discretion of the master. 

Of the Questions at the end of the Chapters, most 
have been chosen from the Cambridge Local Examination 
Papers of the last twenty years ; the Oxford Local Exami- 
nation Papers and the Papers of the Royal College of 
Preceptors have furnished others, and a few have been 
made for their present purpose. They are of very different 
degrees of difficulty. Occasionally they raise points which 
are interesting, but not important enough to deserve dis- 
cussion in the text of the chapter to which they are 
attached. In such cases solutions or helps towards solution 
have been added. At the close of a protracted exposition 
of an abstract principle, the practical teacher often has 
' cause to feel that he has been beating the air, when the 
use of a concrete example enables him to drive his point 
home at once. To meet his needs, a good supply of 



viii PREFACE. 

sentences for correction has been added to the concluding 
chapters on Syntax. There is reason to hope that the boys 
and girls who attack these problems will find the benefit, 
not merely in the confidence with which they will face the 
Examiner, whom most young seekers after Truth nowadays 
expect to meet round the other side of the Tree of Know- 
ledge, but also in the formation of the habit of thinking 
for themselves. In this case the English Grammar lesson 
will prove to be a means of education and not simply an 
opportunity for instruction. 

The matter contained in these pages has but slight 
claims to originality. The writer of an elementary text- 
book, traversing ground well-trodden by many predecessors, 
would probably go astray, if he endeavoured at any cost to 
be original. Many of the following chapters owe some- 
thing, and occasionally they owe much, to Mr Mason's 
English Grammar and to Prof. Bain's Higher English 
Grammar. Use has been made also of Dr Gow's sugges- 
tive Method of English, of Dr Angus's Handbook of the 
English Tongue (in which the principles of syntax are 
discussed with more than the ordinary detail), of Mr Low's 
English Language, of Prof. Meiklejohn's English Language, 
of Dr Abbott's How to Parse, of Mr Hewitt's Manual of 
our Mother Tongue, of Dr Morris's Historical O id lines of 
English Accide?ice, and of Prof. Skeat's Etymological Dic- 
tionary. Acknowledgment of indebtedness to these and 
to other writers has in some places been made, but much 
of the well-worn material, of which an elementary work on 
English Grammar must be composed, is the common property 
of all who choose to write upon the subject. 

My cordial thanks are due to several Cambridge friends 
for criticisms and suggestions which have enabled me to 
improve in many respects the original draft of this book. 



PREFACE. ix 

Among them I must mention Mr A. W. W. Dale, Fellow 
and Tutor of Trinity Hall, Mr R. T. Wright, late Fellow 
and Tutor of Christ's College, and Mr J. H. Flather, of 
Emmanuel College. To Mr Flather I am under especial 
obligations for his sacrifice of many hours of the Long 
Vacation to the task of revision. At the same time it 
must be clearly understood that, for the shortcomings of the 
following pages, the responsibility rests entirely with me, 

ALFRED S. WEST. 

November isf, 1893. 



NOTE TO THE ENLARGED EDITION. 

Some hundreds of Additional Questions and Examples 
are given in the present Edition, and in a few places the 
wording of the text has been altered. The numbers of the 
paragraphs remain the same. 

Ealing, 

June 1 st, 1898. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 


PAGE 


I. 


Historical Survey 


I 


II. 


Constituents of the English Vocabulary 


9 


III. 


The Indo-European or Aryan Family of Langu 


ages . 22 


IV. 


The Divisions of Grammar . 


3° 


V. 


Elementary Sounds in English . 


• 37 


VI. 


Signs or Letters .... 


54 


VII. 


Etymology .... 


. 62 


VIII. 


Nouns ..... 


69 


IX. 


Inflexion of Nouns. I. Gender 


. 80 


X. 


Inflexion of Nouns. II. Number . 


86 


XI. 


Inflexion of Nouns. III. Case 


. 94 


XII. 


Adjectives . 


103 


XIII. 


Inflexion of Adjectives . 


. 112 


XIV. 


Pronouns ..... 


118 


XV. 


Verbs ..... 


• 134 


XVI. 


Inflexions of Verbs .... 


141 


XVII. 


Auxiliary and Defective Verbs . 


. 171 


XVIII. 


Adverbs ..... 


179 


XIX. 


Prepositions .... 


. 186 


XX. 


Conjunctions and Interjections 


192 


XXI. 


Compounds and Derivatives 


. 199 


XXII. 


Analysis of Sentences and Parsing 


209 


XXIII. 


Syntax of Nouns .... 


. 230 


XXIV. 


Syntax of Adjectives and Pronouns . 


241 


XXV. 


Syntax of Verbs .... 


• 353 


XXVI. 


Syntax of Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Prepositi 


ons . 269 




Appendix I. Definitions of Grammatical Tern 


is . 285 




Appendix II. Passages for Analysis 


291 




Index . • . . . 


. 299 



THE ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH 
GRAMMAR. 



CHAPTER L 

Historical Survey. 

1. Britons and Englishmen. The people who 
lived in our island fifteen hundred years ago were not Eng- 
lishmen, nor did they speak the English language. When, 
in our flights of rhetoric or poetry, we declare that we glory 
in the name of Britons, or sing that Britons never shall be 
slaves, our intentions are patriotic, but our language is apt 
to be misleading. Britons we may indeed call ourselves, if 
in doing so we mean nothing more than this, that we are 
inhabitants of Britain. But when we speak of ourselves as 
Britons, or as a British race, let us bear in mind such facts 
as these : — that we are in the main of English origin ; that 
our English forefathers conquered the Britons, deprived 
them of their lands, and made many of them slaves; 
that the English settled in the country belonging to the 
Britons, and that their descendants have remained here ever 
since. Firmly grasping these truths, we may, if we like, 
apply the name of Britons to our fellow-countrymen, just 
as we apply the name of Great Britain to our country. 
No danger of misconception lurks in the use of the word 
W. E, o. I 



2 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1 Britain ' as the geographical name of our island, for our 
island remains the same: it is the population which has 
changed. 

2. The Roman Conquest. As the result of his 
invasions in b.c. 55 and the following year, Julius Caesar 
exacted from the British tribes the payment of an annual 
tribute to Rome. His advance into the country reached 
only as far as St Albans, and nearly a century passed before 
the Romans returned. In the year a.d. 43, the Roman 
legions were sent to Britain again, and in the course of the 
next forty years the country was reduced to subjection as 
far as the Tyne. Half a century later, the limit of Roman 
conquest was pushed further north to the Clyde. The 
Romans held the country as we hold India to-day. They 
did not intermarry with the Britons as they intermarried 
with the natives of Gaul or of Spain. Their occupation of 
Britain was a military occupation, and the Britons preserved 
their own language, though it was not until a.d. 410 that 
the Romans, after a tenure of nearly four hundred years, 
finally left the island. 

3. The Britons were a Keltic race, and in some 
parts of our islands a Keltic language is still spoken. 
Welsh is a Keltic dialect j so is Manx ; so is the native 
Irish, or Erse ; so is the dialect of the Highlands of Scot- 
land 1 . If we wish to have a notion of the sort of language 
which an ancient Briton spoke, we must remember that it 
was like the Welsh of to-day and therefore very different 
from English. The people of South Britain called them- 
selves Cymry, as the Welsh call themselves now. Cambria 
and Cumbria preserve for us this "name ' Cymry ' in a Latin 
form. 

4. The English Conquest. In the year a.d. 449, 
a generation after the departure of the Romans, Hengist 

1 Lowland Scotch is an English dialect. 



HISTORICAL SURVEY. 3 

the Jute settled in Kent, and in the course of a century 
the conquest of the country was for a second time fairly 
complete. The account of the successive invasions, — first 
of Jutes, then of Saxons, and then of Angles, all closely 
allied tribes, — must be looked for in a history of the English 
people, not in a book on the English speech. But to these 
two questions an answer ought to be given here : 

(1) Who were these settlers ? 

(2) Where did they come from ? 

(1) They were Teutonic tribes. The people, whom 
we call Germans, call themselves Deutsch. The word is 
familiar to us in the form Dutch. The Romans, getting as 
near as they could to the name by which these German 
tribes called themselves, made the word Teutoni and gave it 
a Latin declension. From this we derive the convenient 
term Teutonic. If we pronounce the stems of Teut-oni and 
of Deut-scher with their proper vowel sounds, the resem- 
blance is close. We disguise this resemblance by giving 
to the vowel of the word Teutonic the sound of the eu in 
feud. We use the word Teutonic to signify 'belonging to 
the German race,' but if we said that English, or Dutch, or 
Flemish, was a ' German' language, the term might be 
misleading, as we commonly employ the word German in 
a narrower sense, to signify the language spoken to-day in 
Berlin and taught at school to English boys and girls who 
are said to be 'learning German.' This German which is 
spoken at the present day in Germany is itself one of the 
Teutonic dialects. 

Thus the Jutes and Saxons and Angles were very dif- 
ferent people from the Britons. The Jutes, Saxons, and 
' Angles, — or to call them by a collective name, the English, 
— were Teutonic tribes. Their speech was akin to Dutch, 
and it was the parent of our own. The Britons were a 
Keltic race, and their language was as different from the 



4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

language of their Saxon conquerors as the Welsh language 
of to-day is different from our modern English. 

(2) To find the district from which these tribes 
came, we must turn to the map of North Germany and 
Denmark. 

The Angles are believed to have come from the duchy 
of Schleswig. 

Crossing its northern border we pass into Jutland, which 
is part of Denmark. The south of Jut-land was probably 
the home of the Jutes. 

If we move southwards again into Holstein, we find on 
the west coast two rivers forming respectively its northern 
and southern boundaries, the Eider and the Elbe. From 
this neighbourhood it is supposed that the Saxons came. 

Neglecting these details, we may remember that the 
English people came from Schleswig-Holstein, or 
that the English people came from the country to the north 
of the mouth of the Elbe; that they came between the 
years a.d. 450 and 550 ; and that having come they stayed. 

As the district from which these invaders came is a 
low-lying, flat part of the continent, we call them Low 
Germans, to distinguish them from their Teutonic kins- 
men living in the interior of the country, where the 
ground is higher. What we call to-day the * German' 
language is High German. Dutch, Flemish, spoken in pajts 
of Belgium, and Frisian, still spoken in the districts from 
which our ancestors came, are Low German dialects. Thus 
the terms High and Low, as applied to German," have a 
geographical origin. No stigma of inferiority is attached to 
us when we are described as a ' Low German ' race. 

5. What became of the Keltic race, the 
Britons ? 

They were driven into the west and the north of the 
island, — into Devon and Cornwall, into Wales, into West- 



HISTORICAL SURVEY. 5 

moreland and Cumberland. Those who remained in the 
parts which were under English rule were made slaves. 
Their Keltic language was spoken only amongst themselves. 
Henceforth the language of the country was English. 

6. Anglo-Saxon. We often come across the word Anglo-Saxon. 
Does it mean — 

(1) Angles and Saxons, as these tribes were the principal settlers in 
Britain? Or does it mean — 

(2) Saxons of England, as distinguished from Saxons of North 
Germany ? 

To this question no decided answer can be given, nor is it a matter 
of much importance to settle the point one way or the other. When 
Saxons and Angles were united in England against a common enemy, 
they called themselves ' Englishmen.' If the use of the word leads people 
to think that the ' Anglo-Saxons' were of a different race from ourselves, 
it will be well to drop the term. If on the other hand it is understood 
that the so-called Anglo-Saxons were our forefathers, there is some 
convenience in keeping the word Anglo-Saxon to denote a stage in the 
history of the English language. 

7. Roman missionaries. Our English forefathers 
were heathen. We preserve relics of their worship in the 
names of the days of the week. Roman missionaries were 
sent to this country in the year a.d. 597 to teach them 
Christianity. Latin became again one of the tongues of 
Britain, the language of its worship and of its literature. 
Trade brought in other words from a Latin source. 

8. The Northmen. During two and a half cen- 
turies, from about a.d. 800 to 1050, England was exposed 
to frequent inroads of the Danes, or Northmen, inhabitants 
of Scandinavia and not merely of Denmark. These North- 
men, from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, were a Teutonic 
race, so they were akin to the English whom they harassed ; 
but we place them in a group apart from High or Low 
Germans and call this group the Scandinavian. 

9. The Norman Conquest. The Normans, who 
established themselves in our country in a.d. 1066, were 
originally, like the Danes, Northmen or Scandinavians. 



6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

But they had been settled on French soil for about 150 
years and had acquired a French dialect, the French of 
northern France, called the langue (Toil. The word oil, the 
same word as out, signifies yes. The langue d'oil was the 
dialect in which people said oil for yes, as distinguished 
from the langue d'oc in which they said .oc. This French 
language was in the main a form of Latin, containing, 
however, a certain amount of Keltic, for the Gauls were 
a Keltic race, though they adopted the speech of their 
Roman conquerors. So the French influence upon our 
English tongue is really a Latin influence in disguise. 

10. The Revival of Learning. The sixteenth 
century is the time of the Revival of Classical Learning, or 
of the Renaissance as it is sometimes called. The capture 
of Constantinople by the Turks in a.d. 1453 had caused 
the flight of the cultured Greeks who lived there, and they 
sought refuge in the cities of Italy. To Florence flocked 
eager students out of many lands to acquire from these 
learned exiles a knowledge of ancient literature. Curiosity 
respecting Greek and Roman antiquities spread widely, and 
Greek and Latin writers were zealously read. The con- 
sequence was that an enormous number of new words, 
borrowed directly from the Latin, passed into our English 
vocabulary. Hundreds of words were introduced and 
dropped, as there was no need of them : hundreds more 
remained. Very different was the way in which words of 
Latin origin came in at this time from the way in which 
they came in under the influence of the Norman Conquest. 
At the Revival of Learning the words were borrowed by 
scholars from books. Under the Norman kings they were 
introduced by the daily speech of foreigners who had taken 
our England and made it their own. 

11. Other incidents in our history deserve mention 
in an account of the influence of political events on the 
formation of our speech. Thus, in the reign of Mary, Spanish 



HISTORICAL SURVEY. 7 

influence was strong; in the reign of Charles II., French 
influence was strong; under William III., Dutch influence 
was strong. And we may therefore expect to find Spanish 
and French and Dutch words, which secured a footing in 
our language at these times. But such words are few. 

12. We will close this chapter with a short summary 
of the chief historical events which have affected the 
formation of our English speech as it exists to-day, and in 
the next chapter we shall say something about the character 
of the words which we owe to these events. 

1. The original inhabitants of this country were Britons, 
a Keltic race, speaking a language like Welsh. They were 
subjugated by the Romans, who remained here from a.d. 43 
to 410. They were then subjugated by the Jutes, Saxons, 
and Angles, tribes belonging to the Low German branch of 
the Teutonic stock. These English people came from the 
district north of the mouth of the Elbe at different times 
between a.d. 450 and 550, and their descendants have stayed 
in this country ever since. 

2. a.d. 600 to 1000. The Christian missions intro- 
duced some words of Latin origin, and the growth of trade 
brought in others. 

3. a.d. 800 to 1050. The Danes made frequent in- 
cursions, and from 1017 to 1042 Danish kings ruled in 
England. By ' Danes ' are meant not only people of Den- 
mark, but people of Norway and Sweden also. Like the 
English they were a Teutonic race, but we call theirs the 
Scandinavian branch. 

4. a.d. 1066 to 1400. The Normans were also origin- 
ally Scandinavians, but they had adopted the language of 

.France during their occupation of that country for 150 years 
before they conquered England; and for 150 years after 
their conquest of England, — until the death of John and the 
final severance of England from Normandy, — great efforts 



8 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

were made to extend the use of the French language in 
this country. The French language is in the main a form 
of Latin, though the Gauls were a Keltic race. 

5. The Revival of Letters, or of Classical Learning, 
or the Renaissance, affected our language from the time of 
Henry VII. to the end of Charles I.'s reign, i.e. during the 
i6th and the first half of the 17 th century. 



CHAPTER II. 
Constituents of the English Vocabulary. 

13. In the previous chapter we mentioned the leading 
events in the history of our country which have exercised 
an influence upon the formation of our language as it exists 
to-day. In this chapter we shall answer the question, — 
What sorts of words do we owe to these events 
in our history? 

14. I. Keltic words in English. The Keltic 

words in our ordinary English speech are few. When 
we bear in mind that in some parts of our island the 
British inhabitants were nearly exterminated by their English 
conquerors and that British civilization was practically de- 
stroyed, we are not surprised to find that the influence upon 
our English speech of the intercourse between Britons and 
Englishmen was very slight. Keltic names of places in- 
deed are numerous. Avon is a Keltic word for 'river/ 
and there are many Avons in England. Aber, as in 
Aberdeen, Aberystwith, Berwick (i.e. Aberwick), meaning 
'the mouth of a river'; Pen or Ben, ' a mountain/ as in 
Penzance, Ben Nevis ; Plan, 'a sacred enclosure/ as in 
Llandaff, Lampeter \ Caer or Car, 'a castle/ as in Caer- 
marthen, Carlisle, — all of these are of Keltic origin, and 
there are others besides, but geographical names have no 
claim to be reckoned as a part of our ordinary vocabulary. 
Several words which were formerly supposed to have 
passed from Keltic into English are now known to have 



io ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

passed in a contrary direction from English into Keltic. A 
few Keltic words may have come to us through the Norman 
French. At a later date we borrowed a few more from 
Welsh, from Irish, and from Gaelic, the language spoken in 
the Highlands of Scotland, all of which belong to the Keltic 
group. But our indebtedness to Keltic is small. We may 
sum it up thus : 

i. Geographical names, which are no part of our 
ordinary vocabulary : 

2. A few words handed down from the original Britons, 
or introduced through the Norman French : 

3. A few borrowed from Welsh (e.g. cromlech, gull, l a 
bird '), from Irish (e.g. whisky, shamrock), and from Gaelic 
{e.g. clan, plaid). 

15. II. The Latin Element in English. Though 
the Romans held this country for nearly four hundred 
years, they left us no Latin words in our vocabulary as a 
legacy from their occupation. But it must be remembered 
that the Romans never came in contact with the English 
after the English had established themselves here. The 
Romans took their final departure in a.d. 410, and it 
was not until a.d. 449 that the first English settlement 
was made. The Romans probably introduced many Latin 
words into the language of the Britons, but the Britons 
contributed very few words to our English speech, and of 
those which they did contribute none happened to be of 
Latin origin. We can trace the effect of Roman occu- 
pation however in several names of places. When 
we meet with a word like Do?i-caster, or Circen-cester, or 
Chester, we recognise the Latin castra and know that these 
places were once Roman military stations. So in Lin -coin 
we have colonia : in WalVs End and in Walton, vallum 
appears in disguise. When the English arrived and found 
a place called ' Chester/ they would continue to call it 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY, n 

i Chester,' just as when we occupied New South Wales and 
found a place called ' Wagga-Wagga,' we continued to call 
it 'Wagga-Wagga/ and in this way we may say that the 
Romans have left their mark upon our language. But their 
influence is seen only in a few geographical names. This 
Latin element is sometimes called the Latin of the First 
Period. 

16. In a.d. 597, St Augustine was sent by Pope 
Gregory to teach Christianity to the English, and in the 
course of the next four centuries several Latin words, 
connected with the Christian faith and ritual, were introduced 
into the language. Translations from Latin originals brought 
in others. Commerce was extending also between England 
and other European nations, from whom were borrowed 
terms of Latin origin, new names for new things. Let us 
picture to ourselves the influence which a missionary settle- 
ment would have to-day upon the language of a tribe of 
African savages. From the Christian teachers they would 
borrow such words as bible, hymn-book, chapel, and add this 
English element to their African speech. Then after a while 
the trader would follow, and the language of the natives 
would be enriched with such words as rifle, gunpowder, gin. 
In like manner, between the years a.d. 600 and 1000, Roman 
ecclesiastics introduced words of which altar, creed, font, 
candle, are examples, while, in consequence of enlarged 
knowledge owing to extended trade, such words as cheese, 
cook, linen, poppy, pear, found their way into our language. 
This Latin is called the Latin of the Second Period. 

17. We saw that Norman French, though it con- 
tained a considerable Keltic element, was in the main a 
language of Latin origin. Hence we may say that 

< the words which we owe to our Norman conquerors are 
Latin words which have come into the language indirectly, 
Latin words ' once removed/ This Latin element is called 
the Latin of the Third Period. 



12 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Now, if we consider how complete the Norman Conquest 
was and how rapidly it was effected, we may feel some 
surprise that it is an English language and not a French 
language which we speak to-day. Norman lords occupied 
the lands from which English owners had been ejected. 
Normans held the higher offices in church and state. Deli- 
berate efforts were made to extend the use of the French 
language. Boys at grammar schools had to turn Latin 
into French. Cases in the law-courts were carried on in 
French. Yet in spite of all, English survived and prevailed. 
One important event which contributed largely to this result 
was the loss of the French possessions in John's reign 
(1206). Norman barons had to make their choice between 
life in France and life in England, and those who settled 
in England at length threw in their lot with the English 
and ceased to be French. Then again the war with France 
in Edward III.'s reign made everything French unpopular. 
In this reign boys were no longer required to construe their 
Latin into French, and English was used instead of French 
in the law-courts. 

To the Normans we owe words originally of Latin origin 
relating to such subjects as — 

1. feudalism: e.g. ' homage/ from hotnme, for by this 

process the vassal became the lord's man; 

' fealty ' = ' fidelity ' ; ' esquire ' and * scutcheon/ 

from scutum, ' a shield.' 

2. law : e.g. ' attorney/ * assize, ' plaintiff/ ' defendant/ 

'judge,' 'jury/ 'damage.' 

3. hunting: e.g. 'chase/ 'covert/ 'leveret/ 'venison' 

(Lat. venor, 'to hunt'), 'quarry,' meaning 'game/ 
(French cuir 7 Latin corium y 'a skin/ 'hide'). 

4. war: e.g. 'chivalry/ 'battle/ 'trumpet,' 'vizor.' 
The Normans gave us many more words which do not 

come under these heads. An interesting example of the 
way in which the language of a country illustrates its 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY. 13 

history is supplied by the names of certain animals and 
of the meats which they furnish. When the beast is alive, we 
call it an ox, or a sheep, a calf, or a pig. These are English 
words. When it is cooked for the table, we call it beef, 
mutton, veal, pork. These are French words. From these 
facts we might draw the inference that the English peasant 
looked after the stock on the farm, and his Norman master 
ate the joints in the hall. Sir Walter Scott puts this point 
forcibly in Ivanhoe. 

18. The Latin of the Fourth Period comprises those 
words of Latin origin which were introduced in swarms 
during the time of the Revival of Classical Learning, 
or have passed into our language since that date. The 
age of the Tudors was one in which men's minds expanded 
rapidly, and new ideas required new words for their expres- 
sion. The Reformation in religion; the diffusion of literature 
owing to the recent invention of printing; geographical 
discovery; progress in science, — all these things rendered the 
old vocabulary inadequate, and the fashionable study of 
classical authors showed where fresh words were to be found. 
For one who has learnt a little Latin, it is an easy matter to 
identify a Fourth-Period word on the page of a modern 
book. From the same Latin original we may have another 
word, which has come to us through the Norman French, 
disguised beyond easy recognition in the course of centuries 
of oral transmission. Compare the following : 



Original Latin. 


Borrowed directly. 


Through Norman French. 


captivus 


captive 


caitiff 


factionem 


faction 


fashion 


factu?n 


fact 


feat 


jidelitatem 


fidelity 


fealty 


persequor 


persecute 


pursue 


senior 


senior 


sir 


quiettis 


quiet 


coy 


traditionem 


tradition 


treason. 



In the classical form assumed by several words of 



i 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Norman French origin, we see another consequence of the 
New Learning. Thus dette was changed to debt, vitaille 
to victual, aventure to adventure. 

19. Let us bring together in a summary form the results 
of our discussion of the Latin element in modern 
English. The four leading events are these: 

i. Roman occupation of Britain, a.d. 43 to 410. 
Latin words found only in names of places ; e.g. Dorchester, 
Stratton. 

2. Introduction of Christianity among the Eng- 
lish, a.d. 597. This period extends from a.d. 600 to 1000, 
and the character of the words is mainly ecclesiastical, i.e. 
relating to the church. During the same time other words 
were brought in by literature and commerce. 

3. Norman Influence, a.d. 1066 — 1400, Latin in- 
troduced through the French. Words of feudalism, law, 
hunting, war, and many others. 

4. Revival of Letters, the 16th century and first 
half of the 17th, or the period extending from the Tudors to 
the Commonwealth. Words of all kinds. 

20. Before leaving this subject we must touch on a few 
other points of interest connected with the Latin element 
in our language. 

Though our language is the English language, it contains more 
words of Latin than of native origin. In saying this we mean that, if we 
take a dictionary and count up the total number of words, we shall 
find that Latin has furnished us with more than we obtained from our 
English forefathers. But then we do not use more Latin words than 
English words, although we have more of them. This last sentence 
contains eighteen words. Of these eighteen, only two are of Latin 
origin, the words use and Latin. All the rest are native English. Two 
in eighteen is a trifle over n per cent. By way of contrast let us 
examine a sentence taken at random from an essay of Matthew Arnold's: 

" All our good secondary schools have at present some examination 
proceeding from the universities; and if this kind of examination, 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY. 15 

customary and admitted already, were generalised and regularised, it 
would be sufficient for the purpose." 

Here we have thirty-five words, and thirteen of them come from the 
Latin source. This gives 37 per cent, of foreign origin as compared with 
eleven per cent, in the former passage. 

One more sample, this time a verse of Wordsworth's : 
"Six feet in earth my Emma lay, 
And yet I loved her more — 
For so it seemed, — than till that day 
I e'er had loved before." 
From these four lines, containing six-and-twenty words, the Latin 
element is altogether absent. 

Now, how is it that the dictionary proportion of Latin words in 
English and the proportion in use are so different ? 

Because (1) in the dictionary every word counts once and only once. 
That, and, if, count as one English word each, and regularise, generalise, 
secondary, count as one word each. But we can hardly make a sentence 
without bringing in such words as that, and, if, whilst we may pass 
months or years or a life- time without bringing into our sentences such 
words as regularise, generalise, secondary. We should find it a trouble- 
some business to make a sentence ten words long without using a single 
native English word, for the English words are the mortar, so to speak, 
by which the sentence is bound together. Take these words away, and 
the sentence tumbles to pieces. Take away the classical words, and we 
can in most cases substitute for them words of English origin. 

Again, (2) by far the greater number of the words in the dictionary 
are words which we never use at all, — words which we should never 
meet with, unless we chanced to see them when we were looking in the 
dictionary. How many words there are in the English language, it is 
not an easy matter to say. Some persons would give 100,000 as the 
number, others 200,000, others 400,000. These startling discrepancies 
do not imply any incapacity to count correctly on the part of the people 
who furnish the estimates ; they arise from a difference of opinion as to 
what is to be reckoned as a word. Suppose we accept the lowest of the 
three totals mentioned above, and say that there are roo,ooo words now 
current in our language; we might then roughly distribute them thus 
without any great error in the proportion: Latin 60,000, English 30,000, 
Greek and other sources 10,000. 

But how many of these words are in ordinary use? To this question 
it is impossible to give a definite answer. Shakespeare employed twice 
as many words to express his thoughts as anybody else, and he said all 
that he had to say with about 15,000 words. Milton needed only half 
that number. An educated man of to-day has a vocabulary of some 
five or six thousand words. Two thousand suffice for an average 
mechanic; one thousand for a schoolboy; half that number for an 



1 6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

agricultural labourer. We give these numbers by conjecture, but pro- 
bably they are not very wide of the mark. At any rate we may safely 
say this, that for every word which the best educated man makes use of, 
there are at least ten, perhaps twenty, in the dictionary, which he never 
uses at all. And most of these are words of foreign extraction. The 
question may be asked, — What are these words for, if we never use 
them? Vast numbers of them are words of what we call a technical 
character ; they belong to different arts and crafts and sciences, and are 
used by the men who follow those arts and crafts and sciences and by 
nobody else. Thus the doctor employs hundreds of technical words not 
used by the rest of us ; then there are the words peculiar to botany and 
chemistry; the words of mining, of building, of seamanship, and so on. 
Every occupation furnishes its contribution of terms which are as com- 
pletely unknown to people generally as so many words of Winchester 
slang. 

But (3) even when we are dealing with words in ordinary use, words 
of which everybody knows the meaning, the more simple and familiar 
the subject in hand, the more does the English element predominate. 
The words which denote the things nearest and dearest to us, the things 
which we have known from our childhood, are of English origin. Father 
and mother, house and home, rain, wind, day, night, sun, moon, — these 
are English words. And hence it is that Wordsworth, describing an 
old man's feeling about his daughter's death, naturally uses an unmixed 
English diction as best suited to his purpose. How feeble a Latinized 
paraphrase would sound by the side of the simple English words which 
go home to our hearts ! 

"And yet I loved her more — 

For so it seemed, — than till that day 
I e'er had loved before." 

"It appeared to me that I entertained an intenser affection for her 
than I had previously experienced." The force of the passage has 
gone, and the sentence reads as if it were taken from the pages of a 
third-rate novelist. On the other hand, the extract from Matthew 
Arnold abounds in Latin words, because he is dealing with a scientific 
subject and resorts to scientific language. Our English forefathers knew 
nothing of ' regularising' and * generalising, ' of 'secondary schools' and 
'universities.' We should be puzzled to express the passage in words of 
English origin. Thus the Latin element in a man's style will vary 
according to his subject. If he is writing on a philosophical subject, the 
proportion of Latin words must necessarily be high, because English 
will not provide him with the vocabulary which he requires. If he is 
writing a story or a poem about love or family life, the proportion of 
Latin words will be low, because English words will be more effective 
for his purpose. But however high the proportion may be, we shall 
never come across a passage five lines long in which there are as many 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY. 17 

Latin words as there are words of native origin. When we say of a 
•man that he writes a Latinised or classical style, we mean that he often 
prefers to use a Latin noun, verb, or adjective, when an English noun, 
verb, or adjective would express his meaning. The other words in his 
sentences are for the most part English and must be English, since 
about these no choice is possible. 

It is sometimes said that we ought always to use an English word 
instead of a Latin word if we can. But a hard and fast rule of this sort 
is not to be laid down for universal application as a maxim of style. 
The Latin word may sometimes be the more effective or exact, though 
an English word might also serve the purpose. A good writer will 
select the best word regardless of its derivation. Still, half-educated 
persons have such a hankering after Latin words in preference to Eng- 
lish words, for the expression of common-place notions about things of 
every-day life, that there is safety in laying down the rule, at any rate 
for them, that the English word should always be taken, and the Latin 
word should be left. The habit of saying ' Allow me to assist you to 
potatoes,' instead of 'Let me help you to potatoes,' or 'Let me give you 
some potatoes'; of using 'period' or * epoch' instead of 'time'; 'indi- 
vidual ' instead of 'man'; ' commence ' instead of ' begin,' and so on, is 
detestable 1 . 

21. III. Greek words in English. The Greek 
element in English is important, and its amount is rapidly 
increasing. In date of introduction it corresponds with the 
Latin of the Fourth Period. There are indeed a few 
ecclesiastical terms of Greek origin, which reached us through 
a Latin channel before the Norman Conquest, e.g. deacon, 
monk, apostle, bishop, psalm. But with the exception of 
a score of words like these, belonging to the vocabulary of 
the Christian church, the Greek which we have in modern 
English has been adopted since the Revival of Learning for 
purposes of scientific nomenclature. Greek is a language 
which lends itself readily to the formation of compounds. 
So was old English, but this power of making new words by 
the combination of other words seems to have perished 
through the influence of the Norman French. At any rate, 
our language possesses it no longer. If we consider the 
ease with which long compound words can be formed in 

1 See Abbott and Seeley's English Lessons* p. 105. 
W. E. G. 2 



18 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

modern German, it seems curious that our own Teutonic 
language should lack the same facility. But such is the 
case. And as compound terms are increasingly necessary 
to express the complex ideas of science, we fall back on 
Greek to supply our needs. Telephone, microscope, ther- 
mometer y photography are examples of Greek compounds, and, 
if we translate these words into their English equivalents, 
the advantage which we gain from the use of Greek is 
apparent. 

22. IV. Scandinavian words in English. It 
is not always an easy matter to determine what words we 
owe to the Norsemen, as the Norsemen belonged to the 
Teutonic race, and their vocabulary resembled that of our 
own Low-German dialect. Still, there are some words which 
we can identify as Scandinavian in their origin. We may 
trace the Danes on the map of England by the ending -by, 
which means * town/ as in Derby ', Whitby : the same word 
is preserved in bye-law. This ending occurs for the most 
part in the district once occupied by the Danes, called 
the Danelagh, in the north and east of England Fell, as 
in 'Scawfell/ force, 'a water-fall,' as in ' Stockgill-force/ are 
other examples of Danish geographical names. To the 
Danes we owe also the word are, which took the place 
of the English form of the 3rd person plural of the verb am. 
Other additions which they made to our vocabulary are seen 
in the words fellow, sky, scant, ugly. The common termina- 
tion -son in names of persons, e.g. ' Johnson,' * Anderson/ is 
Danish. Words meaning 'son of/ Patronymics as they 
are called in grammar, were formed in Old English by the 
addition of the ending -ing, e.g. ' Atheling.' 

23. V. Words from various sources. We have 
now completed our account of the chief sources from which 
the vocabulary of modern English has been enriched. 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY. 19 

Words have been borrowed from a large number of other 
languages, but no great advantage will be gained by burden- 
ing the memory with lists of terms for which various foreign 
countries have been placed under contribution. The stu- 
dent who is asked to mention a word which we have taken 
from the Turkish, or Indian, or Chinese, should think of 
something peculiar to Turkey, or India, or China, and 
examples will suggest themselves. Thus ^2 or bey may occur 
to him as Turkish words ; pugree, pwikah, rupee as Hindu ; 
nankeen or tea as Chinese. A few illustrations are added of 
common words borrowed from miscellaneous sources : 

Modern French — bouquet, etiquette, programme. 

Italian — bandit, grotto, regatta, 

Spanish — armada, cigar, don, 

Portuguese — commodore, cajte, marmalade. 

Modern German — waltz, meerschaum, nickel 

Dutch — skipper, yacht, sloop. 

Russian — czar, knout, drosky. 

Hebrew — cherub, seraph, shibboleth. 

Arabic — alkali, sheik, sherbet. 

Persian — chess, lilac, orange. 

Malay — amuck (' to run amuck '), gong, sago. 

North- American — squaw, tobacco, tomahawk. 

Questions. 

1. These six Latin words occur in names of places and are marks 
of the Roman occupation of Britain: — castra, 'a camp'; colonia, 'a 
colony'; fo s sa, 'a ditch'; porlus, 'a. harbour'; strata, 'a paved road'; 
vallum, 4 a rampart.' Mention names in which these Latin words 
survive. 

2. The following Latin words furnish us with pairs of derivatives 
which came into our language (1) indirectly through the Norman- 
French, (2) directly at the Revival of Learning. Give the pairs of 
derivatives '.—fragilis, poenitentia, securus, pauper, redemptionem. 

3. What other forms have we of the words privy, royal, story, 
blame? Which of the forms came into the language first? Why do 
you think so? 

2 2 



2o ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

4. Pick out the words of Latin origin in the 19th Psalm. 

5. Mention the periods at which words of Latin origin were largely 
introduced into English. Give instances of words introduced at each 
period. 

6. Give the words of English origin in common use which most 
nearly answer to the following : — expansion, construction, ridiculous, 

fortitude, depression, depart, transgression, elevation, probability, virtuous. 

7. Of the elements composing the English vocabulary, which is (1) 
the largest, and (2) the oldest? 

To what European dialects is English most nearly akin? 

8. Assign to its proper language the italicised part of each of the 
following words : — Carlisle, Doncaster, Derby, Lincoln. 

9. How is it that so many rivers in England bear the name of 
Avon? In what forms does Ex appear in names of places? 

[Avon is a Keltic word for * river ' and Ex for * water.' The name 
Avon or Ex, given by the British inhabitant to the river in his neigh- 
bourhood, would be preserved by the English settler. Hence we have 
upwards of a dozen rivers called 'Avon* in England, and 'Ex' in 
various disguises is even more common : e.g. Ex-eter, ;4.r-minster, Ux- 
briclge, Usk, Ou±e. In Scotland alone there are more than half-a-dozen 
rivers called Esk.] 

10. Rewrite the following passage, substituting, where possible, 
words of English origin for those derived from Latin : — 

1 The old man trusts wholly to slow contrivance and gradual pro- 
gression. The youth expects to force his way by genius, vigour, and 
precipitance. The old man deifies prudence. The youth commits 
himself to magnanimity and chance. Age looks with anger on the 
temerity of youth, and youth with contempt on the scrupulosity of age.' 

Johnson. 

11. From what causes and in what ways have foreign words 
obtained a footing in the English language? 

[Mention as the chief agencies (1) conquest, (2) commercial inter- 
course, (3) literary influence.] 

12. Give illustrations of the way in which a study of the sources of 
the English language corroborates what we learn from English history. 

13. What languages had been spoken in this island, or were being 
spoken in it, when the English Conquest took place? 

Were they in any way akin to the speech of the Angles and the 
Saxons? 

1 4. What do you know of the origin of each of the following words? 
Comment on their connexion with facts of English history: — Avon, 
Chester, Grimsby, cloister, cherry, beef, potion, poison. 



CONSTITUENTS OF THE VOCABULARY. 21 

15. Describe with illustrations the influence of the Celtic and of the 
Scandinavian languages upon our English vocabulary. 

16. Mention eight English words which have come to us from 
different foreign languages and state the source of each. 

17. What is the source of each word in the following sentence? — 
4 Meanwhile the great rhetorical fabric gradually arose. He revised, 
erased, strengthened, emphasized, with indefatigable industry.' 

18. What is the origin of the words priest, bard, fealty, punkah ? 
What kind of intercourse led to the adoption of each of these words 
into our vocabulary ? 

19. Write any four consecutive lines of English poetry and under- 
line the words of non- Teutonic origin. 

20. Illustrate the influence of the social and political institutions of 
the Normans upon the English vocabulary. 

21. What is meant by speaking of a word of foreign origin as 
4 acclimatized ' or ' naturalized ' ? 

[See § 92, 1. We may also describe as 'imperfectly naturalized' a 
foreign word which retains in English its foreign pronunciation, e.g. 
ennui. Think of some more examples.] 

22. How do we obtain names for new ideas and new inventions? 
Give instances. 

[Bear in mind that in some cases these novelties are named after the 
men by whom they were introduced.] 

23. ' English has borrowed largely from other languages.' 
Does this seem to you an advantage or a drawback ? 
Give a few examples of words thus borrowed. 

[A language should have a vocabulary large enough to express the 
ideas of the people who use it. In what respects would English be 
deficient without its Latin or Greek element? On the other hand, 
there is a risk that the synonyms of a mixed vocabulary may land a 
speaker or writer in tautology or fallacious argument Thus an orator 
advocated ' freedom of speech ' on the ground that every man ought to 
have ' unrestricted liberty of expressing his sentiments.'] 



22 



CHAPTER III. 

The Indo-European or Aryan Family of Languages. 

24. When we are learning Greek or Latin, French or 
German, we come across some words that are the same 
in form as their English equivalents and many more words 
that are very like them. Take the English words one, three, 
me, is. Everybody can see the resemblance of these words 
to the French un, trois, me, est; to the Latin unus, tres, me, 
est; to the German em, drei, mich, ist; to the Greek Iv, rpcis, 
fji€, icrrL A knowledge of other languages of Europe would 
enable us to carry the comparison further with the certainty 
of finding in them corresponding resemblances. From the 
fact that these similarities exist we are not to draw the 
inference that our English ancestors derived the word me 
from the Latin, or that the Romans derived their word 
me from the Greek. We did not wait for the Romans to 
supply us with a necessary word like me, nor were the 
Romans without it until they took it from the Greeks. 
With regard to the French words un, trots, me, est, the case 
is different ; they do * come from ' the Latin unus, tres, me, 
est, for the Romans conquered Gaul, and the Gauls adopted 
in the main the language of their conquerors. But me was 
good English before the Normans came to England. Such 
words as secure, convict, hospital, detect, have really 'come 
from ' the Latin : we borrowed them directly. But it would 
be a great mistake to suppose that wherever we find a 



ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES, 23 

likeness between words in two languages, there has been 
any borrowing at all, direct or indirect. 

Now resemblances such as we see between words like 
one, three, me, is, in a number of different languages, are too 
many for them to be the result of chance. If then the 
similar words in one language have not been taken from 
those in another, how are we to account for the 
similarity ? 

25. The explanation is this, that the various lan- 
guages have proceeded from a common source. 
Suppose that many of the nations of Europe and Asia are 
descended from a tribe which existed some thousands of 
years ago. Suppose that, as this tribe increased in numbers, 
it became a difficult matter to supply the growing population 
with food. We know what happens in our own time and 
country when men find a difficulty about getting a liveli- 
hood in the place of their birth. They go somewhere else. 
Sometimes they move from the country districts and settle 
in the large towns. Sometimes they leave the old country 
and seek their fortunes in a new one. The men who cut 
themselves adrift from their old moorings are, as a rule, the 
younger, more vigorous, and more enterprising members of 
the community. The old folk stay on at home. In much 
the same fashion we may imagine that this primitive nation 
witnessed long ago the exodus of many of the more hardy 
and energetic of its members. With their tents and their 
cattle, these younger men would wander away from the family 
settlement, until they found a district which seemed attrac- 
tive as a permanent resting-place, a district with a river at 
hand and pasture for the herds. And here the descendants 
of these emigrants would remain until in their case was 
repeated the history of what had happened to their fore- 
fathers. The pressure of an increasing population would 
make a fresh migration necessary, and a part of the tribe 
would again set out to found a new settlement. Suppose 



24 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

that, three or four thousand years later, a traveller came 
upon the descendants of the original tribe, scattered abroad 
through Europe and Persia and India, he would find that, 
in spite of the changes which removals and the lapse of 
many centuries had brought about in their languages, these 
languages contained beneath the surface many points of 
resemblance. 

Now this supposition that from an early race of men 
there started forth, at different times, parties of emigrants 
from whom have sprung a posterity which occupies a portion 
of Asia and almost the whole of Europe, is a supposition 
only. Historical records on the subject we have none. 
We cannot therefore speak of these migrations with the 
same certainty which we feel when we speak of the English 
coming from Schleswig-Holstein, or of the Normans coming 
from France. In proof of these invasions of Saxons and 
Normans we can produce written testimony. The migra- 
tions of our supposed primitive tribe are matters of in- 
ference, but the inference is one which we feel justified in 
drawing, because it enables us to explain the existence 
of these similarities between many of the languages 
of Europe and Asia. 

A comparison of most of the languages of Europe with 
many of the languages of India discloses to us the fact 
that, instead of being totally different, they present many 
points of resemblance, — so many indeed that we are driven 
to the conclusion that these languages have proceeded 
from a common source. This collection of languages 
we call the Indo-European or Aryan Family of Lan- 
guages. 

26. It is believed that three or four thousand years ago 
there lived, somewhere between the Hindu-Kush mountains 
and the Caspian Sea, a tribe, or tribes of the same race, 
called Aryans. Though we have no written memorials 
of these Aryans, the habits and character of the people are 



ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES, 25 

known to us as inferences from facts revealed by philological 
research. Experts in the Science of Language tell us that 
these Aryans lived in towns, kept cattle, ploughed the 
ground, used metals, made boats, could count up to a 
hundred, recognised family relations, and had various names 
for God. And the line of argument by which they establish 
these conclusions is of this kind : — If, say they, we find 
existing in various disguises, in a number of different lan- 
guages, the same word to express * horse/ 'sheep,' 'plough,' 
1 spear/ then the tribe from which these modern races have 
sprung must have had a word for horse, sheep, plough, 
spear, and if they had the word, they must have been ac- 
quainted with the thing. Language comes to our help 
again in fixing the original abode of the primitive Aryan 
tribe. If we find Aryan names for certain plants and 
animals, we infer that the Aryans had their home in a 
district where these plants and animals would flourish. 
Other reasons there are for placing the Aryans where the 
majority of the authorities on the question have agreed to 
place them, but this is one reason, and it shows us once 
more how language throws a light upon history, or even 
reveals to us history which is otherwise hidden 1 . 

27. Of these Aryan languages some are more closely 
allied than others. The more closely allied languages we 
arrange in classes which we call Stocks. Then again we 
subdivide a stock into classes of still more closely allied 
languages, and these subdivisions we call Branches. Let 
us treat our own language in this fashion. In the first place, 
it belongs to the Teutonic stock. But many other lan- 
guages belong to this stock, some of which resemble English 
more closely than others. Dutch, Flemish, German, Ice- 
landic, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, are all of them Teutonic 

1 See Max Miiller's Lectures on the Science of Language, 1st series, 
pp. 238-9, and Sayce's Introduction to the Science of Language, II. 
pp. iai— 134. 



26 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

languages, but they fall into different groups. English we 
said was a Low-German language: so is Dutch; so is 
Flemish. It was pointed out that c Low ' and ' High ' are 
geographical terms, signifying that the people of whom they 
are used lived on the lowlands near the coast, or on the 
higher ground of the interior. Modern German is a High- 
German language. Then again the languages of Iceland, 
Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, form a third group, which 
we call Scandinavian. The Teutonic stock is thus sub- 
divided into three branches, viz. Low-German, High-German, 
and Scandinavian, and it is a full designation of the English 
language to say that it is a member of the Low-German 
branch of the Teutonic stock of the Indo-European 
or Aryan family of languages. We might describe 
Dutch and Flemish as sister languages of English, and 
German and Norwegian as its first-cousins. 

Another stock of considerable interest to us is the 
Romanic, or Italic, since to this stock belong the Latin, 
from which we have borrowed largely, and the modern 
representatives of the Latin, — Italian, French, Spanish, — 
Romance languages as they are called, Romance because 
they come from a Roman source. Then again there is the 
Hellenic or Grecian stock, which is represented by the 
Modern Greek. 

The Keltic stock also has peculiar interest for us, 
because the inhabitants of our island before the arrival of 
our English forefathers were Kelts, and Keltic dialects are 
spoken at the present day in parts of Great Britain and 
Ireland. The Keltic stock falls into two branches, the 
Cymric and the Gaelic. Under the former head are placed 
the Welsh language and the Armorican, a dialect spoken in 
Brittany. The old Cornish, which died out two centuries 
ago, belonged to the same branch. In the Gaelic group 
are included the native Irish or Erse, the Scotch Gaelic of 
the Highlands, and the Manx of the Isle of Man. 



ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES. 27 

28. The language brought to this island in the fifth 
and sixth centuries by our English forefathers was a pure 
or unmixed Teutonic speech. An unmixed language in 
the main it long continued to be. Contributions of words 
from foreign sources came in slowly at first. On the other 
hand, although Modern English is in its essentials a 
Teutonic language, it contains a large Italic element, 
has received considerable additions to its vocabulary from 
the Hellenic source, and possesses a slight Keltic in- 
gredient. Thus four different stocks have contributed to its 
formation: it is a mixed or composite language: its 
words have been borrowed from many different sources. 

29. Two groups of European languages remain to 
complete the list of stocks into which the European 
members of the Aryan family are divided; these are the 
Slavonic, of which Russian is an important example, 
and Lettish, which is represented at the present time by 
dialects in Eastern Prussia. 

As the name Indo-European implies, some of the lan- 
guages of Asia belong to this family. These languages fall 
into two groups. One group is the Indian, which includes 
Sanskrit, a dead language with an important literature ; the 
modern dialects of India which are sprung from Sanskrit, 
such as Hindustani, Bengali, and others ; and Cingalese, the 
dialect of Ceylon. The other group is the Iranian or 
Persian. 

There are thus eight stocks into which the Aryan or 
Indo-European family is subdivided, two of them Indian 
and six European. It must not. be supposed from the use 
of the word * Indo-European' that all the languages of India 
and all the languages of Europe belong to the same family. 
The languages of India we will not discuss in further detail, 
but it must be borne in mind that the following Euro- 
pean languages are not members of this great 
family : — Turkish, Hungarian, the language of the Laps 



28 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

in Lapland, the language of the Fins in Finland, and the 
Basque, spoken in the Pyrenees. 

30. Of the other families of languages, the Semitic is 
the most important. To it belongs Hebrew, in which the 
greater part of the Old Testament is written, and it contains 
also Arabic. Besides the Aryan and the Semitic Family, 
other distinct groups of languages spoken in various parts 
of the world have been recognised, e.g. the languages 
of China, of Farther India, of Japan, of South America. 
Many languages have not yet been studied with the view of 
tracing their relationships. 

31. The Table on the next page shows the relation- 
ship of some of the principal members of the Indo-Euro- 
pean or Aryan Family of Languages. The names of dead 
languages and dead dialects are printed in italics. 



ARYAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES. 



29 



M 



O 
H 

O 

o 

o 
•J 

H 

pq 



W 

ft 

O 



co 

c 
< 



w o 

S Q 

O fc 
co , " H 

h 

O 

w 
lj 

PQ 
<1 
H 



C ^ w X - 

§0^0 

>— I P-l 



3-g 



£ " 



* 3 a 

r|-| r 



O O 

• > o- 
co 



& 



C O 

32 






CO 









-■sen 



o 









_o 



O rt O 



t/) 



S bX) > d J» d 3 

^ rt H ft y. 3 






- d c- — '•- d , 
"S C — ^ g- 



3° 



CHAPTER IV. 
The Divisions of Grammar. 

32. In the preceding chapters we have sketched the 
gradual process by which was formed the English language 
as we have it now; we have marked those events in the 
history of our island which produced important effects 
upon our language; and we have shown the relationship of 
English to other members of the same family of languages. 
We have ascertained what the English language is, where it 
came from, when it arrived. We now pass on to treat of the 
grammar of the English language; and first let us inquire 
what we mean by Grammar. 

33. We can speak a language, or we can write a 
language, or we can both speak and write a language. All 
languages were spoken before they were written. Some lan- 
guages spoken by uncivilized tribes in Africa are not written 
yet. At the present day Latin and ancient Greek are written 
but not spoken. For this reason we call them dead lan- 
guages. English, French, and German are spoken and written. 
Now it is clear that there must be a right way and a wrong 
way of writing and speaking these languages. To deal 
with the correct way of writing and speaking them 
is part of the business of Grammar. An African 
savage knows nothing of grammar, but he knows that the 
missionary does not speak his language properly. In time 
the missionary may come to know the language as thoroughly 



THE DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR. 31 

as the natives know it, and may state a number of rules and 
principles concerning the use of the language, — rules and 
principles to which the natives conform in their daily speech, 
without having ever heard of the existence of such rules and 
principles. These rules and principles constitute an im- 
portant part of the grammar of the language. But we need 
not travel so far away as Africa for an illustration. Take 
the case of an English child, brought up in an educated 
family. At an early age such a child would speak good 
English though he had never learnt grammar, perhaps had 
never even heard of the subject. On the other hand, a 
child brought up in an ignorant household would speak bad 
English, would make mistakes in pronunciation or use 
wrong forms of expression. Without any grammatical train- 
ing in either case, these children would speak correctly or 
incorrectly, would pick up good English or bad English, 
through the influence of the people with whom they came 
in contact. So it is hardly a true account of the matter, at 
any rate so far as one's own language is concerned, to say, 
as is sometimes said, that grammar teaches us to speak and 
write correctly. We learn to speak and write correctly by 
mixing with educated persons and reading well-written 
books. What grammar does is this : it treats of the 
language generally, its sounds, letters and words ; it sup- 
plies us with a number of rules for the correct way of 
using the language, and it examines why certain ways 
of using the language are right, and certain others are wrong, 
not merely stating rules, but adding reasons. Thus, sup- 
pose a person says £ Ask him to let you and I go out'; we 
see that the grammar is bad, and if we alter the sentence to 
* Ask him to let you and me go out/ we make the necessary 
grammatical correction. But if we go on to add that let is a 
transitive verb and requires an objective case after it, we 
give a reason for altering / to me. We state not merely that 
one form of expression is wrong and the other right, but 



32 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

why one is wrong and the other right. We give a principle 
as well as a rule. 

34. Some writers on grammar have described it as an Art and others 
as a Science. An Art consists of a collection of rules, with more or less 
practical skill to carry them out. A Science consists of the principles 
on which the Art is based. Now a man may be a successful artist in 
many subjects without understanding the principles which underlie his 
Art. He may have the knack of playing a tune on the piano after he 
has heard it whistled in the street, though he may be unable to read 
music from the printed page. Or he may be able to paint a landscape, 
though he knows nothing of the principles of perspective. And in like 
manner he may speak and write excellent English, though he has never 
been taught a line of grammar. But he would certainly be more likely 
to avoid mistakes as a musician, if he had learnt the principles of 
harmony, or as a painter, if he had learnt the principles of perspective, 
or as a writer and speaker, if he had learnt the principles of grammar. 
So even from the point of view of practical utility, we may fairly say 
that grammar deserves to be studied. A knowledge of grammar will 
not indeed make a man a good writer, in the sense of furnishing him 
with a pleasant or striking style, but it will help to make him a correct 
writer, and many of our masters of English style would have written 
better, if they had paid more attention to grammatical rules. If there- 
fore anybody is disposed to say that learning grammar is a waste of 
time, because it is quite possible to speak and write correctly without a 
knowledge of it, we may fairly reply that a knowledge of grammar is of 
some use even as a safeguard against speaking and writing wrongly, 
things which we are all of us apt to do. But this is not the chief reason 
after all for studying grammar. We study many subjects of which it 
would be difficult to say precisely what is the 'good,' unless we were 
satisfied that the knowledge of the subject is a good in itself. It is a 
knowledge of such subjects which constitutes a liberal as distinct from a 
commercial education. We may study chemistry simply because it is 
interesting to know something of the constituents of the world around 
us, not because we intend to become chemical manufacturers. We may 
study animal physiology simply because it is interesting to know some- 
thing of the structure of our own bodies and of the bodies of other 
animals. We have been breathing and digesting all our lives, and we 
shall breathe no better for knowing the composition of the atmosphere, 
and digest no better when we have learnt the nature of the gastric juice, 
than we breathed and digested before we acquired this information. 
But we do not feel that the time given to chemistry or physiology has 
therefore been wasted. An intelligent man likes to understand the 
things which he sees around him. These things are too numerous for 
us to understand much of many of them. We must pick and choose 



THE DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR, 33 

according to our tastes. But a man who knows nothing but what is of 
'use' to him, in the sense of its providing him with the means of 
getting his living, is likely to be a dull fellow, uninteresting to himself 
and to his neighbours. Now to English-speaking people the English 
language ought to be an attractive subject of study. When we think of 
the series of great writers who have used this language, — of Chaucer, 
Shakespeare, Milton, Wordsworth, Tennyson, — when we reflect how 
this language is spoken to-day by many millions of people besides the 
inhabitants of our own little island, — by the people of the United States 
and Canada, of Australia and South Africa, — so that it bids fair to 
become the universal medium of intercourse among the chief commercial 
nations of the world, we can hardly fail to realise that our English 
tongue well deserves our attention, and that we ought not to rest 
satisfied with merely using it correctly, but that we should give some 
time and trouble to gaining information about its history and character. 
And some of this information a book on English grammar will give. 

35. Grammar, then, has to do with language, and 
language is made up of words. A language, as we 
saw, may be spoken, or written, or both. Spoken words are 
sounds which may be pronounced rightly or wrongly, as a 
short experience shows us when we are learning French or 
German. One part of Grammar deals with the correct 
pronunciation of words, and is called Orthoepy. 
But under this head we shall treat of a good deal besides 
the right pronunciation of words. We shall inquire what is 
the total number of elementary sounds which our English 
vocabulary with its 100,000 words contains. We shall 
classify these sounds. We shall touch upon some of the 
tendencies to substitute one sound for another and look for 
an explanation of these tendencies. That branch of the 
subject which has to do with topics of this sort is sometimes 
called Phonology, or the theory of spoken sounds. 

36. Then again, words may be written as well as 
spoken, and they may be written rightly or wrongly. 
The branch of grammar which deals with the correct 
writing or spelling of words is called Orthography. 
We write, or spell, with letters, so orthography deals with 
the alphabet. 

W. E. G. 3 



34 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

37. If we are asked, — Are Orthography and Orthoepy 
essential or necessary parts of Grammar? we may 
answer in this way : If a language is spoken but not- 
written, as is the case with the languages of savage tribes, 
its grammar will contain Orthoepy but not Orthography. 
If a language is a dead language, — if it is written but no 
longer spoken, — its grammar will contain Orthography, but 
its Orthoepy will be uncertain or impossible. But either 
Orthography or Orthoepy a grammar must contain, for a 
language must be either written or spoken, if we know it at all. 

38. After examining the sounds and signs, or letters, of 
which spoken or written words are composed, we shall pass 
on to consider words themselves. We shall show that 
the words contained in the vocabulary of our language may 
be arranged in classes according to their meaning, as nouns, 
verbs, prepositions, etc. Then we shall inquire what changes 
of form, or inflexions, any of these words undergo, and what 
is the effect of these changes on the meaning of the words. 
We might also push our investigation further, and discuss 
the relation of English words to words in other languages, 
and determine the channel through which they passed into 
our own. As an example of these different operations, take 
the word mother. Of this word as it stands by itself, wC can 
say that it is a noun, in the singular number; that it makes 
a possessive case singular mother's, and a plural number 
mothers ; that compounds can be formed from it such as 
mother-country, and derivatives such as motherly ; that it is 
connected with, though not borrowed from, the Latin mater, 
Greek ^rjrrjp, German mutter, and so forth. Now that part 
of grammar in which we treat of words taken sepa- 
rately, classifying them and considering their origin 
and form, is called Etymology, and a very important 
part of the subject it is. 

39. But when we speak or write, it is rarely the case that 
words stand alone in this fashion. It is true that sometimes 



THE DIVISIONS OF GRAMMAR. 35 

they occur thus : for example, we may say * Mother !' as an 
exclamation, or if we are asked 'Who gave you that book? , 
we may answer, ' Mother/ which is a short way of saying 
* Mother gave it me,' or l Mother did.' But usually words 
occur in sentences, and then we can describe what is the 
relation in which each word in the sentence stands to the 
rest. The part of grammar which treats of words when 
they are regarded in their relation to other words, — 
of words when they form parts of groups of other words, — is 
called Syntax. So far as Grammar is studied as an Art,— 
as a subject of practical usefulness to prevent us from 
making mistakes in speaking or writing, — Syntax is the 
more important department. But in so far as we study 
grammar in the spirit of scientific curiosity, for the sake of 
learning something about our English tongue, Syntax is of 
no more importance than Etymology. In the following 
pages however no attempt has been made to keep the 
treatment of Etymology rigorously distinct from that of 
Syntax. For in discussing the forms of words it is often 
an advantage to deal with their uses when they are related 
to other words. 

40. When we have dealt with the sounds of our speech, the signs 
or letters which represent them, the words taken separately, and words 
arranged in sentences, our treatment of the subject will be finished. 
Recognition is indeed frequently given to another department of Gram- 
mar, called Prosody. The aspect of this word must not mislead the 
reader into thinking that Prosody has to do with prose, for prose is 
just what Prosody does not deal with. Prosody has to do with Verse, 
with compositions in metre. Now it is clear that Prosody is not an 
essential department of grammar, for there might well be a language in 
which there were no compositions in verse, no metre, and therefore no 
Prosody. As a fact there is probably no language without metrical 
compositions of some sort, such as hymns to the gods or chants before 
going into battle, and if there is metre, then there are principles which 
regulate the employment of the metre, and these principles constitute 
Prosody. But there is no necessity for the existence of metrical com- 
positions in every language. Most of us pass our lives and express our- 
selves only in prose. We may conceive that an entire nation expressed 
itself only in prose, and had never expressed itself in anything else. 

3—2 



36 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

But as soon as a language presents us with compositions in metre, 
Prosody becomes possible. And most languages do contain composi- 
tions in metre amongst their oldest literary possessions. This is natur- 
ally the case, since verse is easier to recollect than prose, and is often 
better worth recollecting. Consequently, in an early age verse is 
handed down, while prose perishes. 

The common blunder must be avoided of supposing that rhyme 
is the same thing as verse, or that poetry is the same thing as either. 
Verse is the name applied to the arrangement of words in metre. 
In modern English verse, this arrangement is such as to allow the 
accent, or stress of the voice, to fall at regular intervals, like the beats 
in music. This regular recurrence of accented and unaccented syllables 
is called rhythm. 

A study of metres helps us to appreciate and enjoy the skill which 
our poets have shown in devising varied and appropriate measures for 
their verse. But the adequate discussion of this subject would occupy 
too much space in our book. Moreover, as grammarians we are con- 
cerned not with the effective use of language but with its correct use. 
Questions of style are appropriate to treatises on Composition or 
Rhetoric rather than to a treatise on Grammar, and the metrical 
arrangement of words is a matter of style. 

41. It will be convenient if we bring together the chiei 
results which we have reached in this chapter. 

Grammar has sometimes been described as the Art 
of speaking and writing correctly. But people may possess 
the Art of correctly using their own language without having 
any knowledge of grammar. We define it therefore as the 
Science which treats of words and their correct 
use. 

It contains the following departments, — Orthoepy, Or- 
thography, Etymology, and Syntax. 

Orthoepy deals with the correct pronunciation 
of words. 

Orthography deals with the correct spelling 
or writing of words. 

Etymology deals with the classification of 
words, their derivation and inflexion. 

Syntax deals with the combination of words 
in sentences, their government, agreement, and 
order. 



37 



CHAPTER V. 
Elementary Sounds in English. 

42. We have assumed that the English dictionary 
contains 100,000 different significant sounds or words, five 
or six thousand of which are in use as the vocabulary of 
the average well-educated man. These different sounds are 
composed of a very limited number of simple or elemen- 
tary sounds. Just as chemistry teaches us that out of 
some seventy elements are formed the boundless varieties 
of substances which nature and man's art present to us, so 
an examination of the sounds which we utter in pro- 
nouncing English words shows us that they are made by 
combining about forty sounds which are simple or elemen- 
tary. Take, for example, the words bat and but. Each 
word contains three simple sounds in combination, but two 
of the simple sounds, b and /, are the same in each. 

43. Vowels and Consonants. Our first business 
will be to ascertain the different sorts of sounds which 
we make in speaking. The division of letters, which serve 
as the signs or symbols of sounds, into vowels and 
consonants, is known to everybody. Let us carefully 
inquire into the nature of the distinction between these 
sounds. 

Open your mouth and let the breath pass out unchecked 
while you utter the sound of a in path, or of e in feed, or of 



38 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

o in note. The sound can be continued until you are out 
of breath. Now pronounce the letter b in bad, not calling 
it bee, — ' bee' is merely its name as a letter of the alphabet. 
Pronounce it as if you intended to say bad, but changed your 
mind and stopped as soon as the first letter had escaped. 
The sound is an instantaneous one. There is a sudden 
explosion of the b\ and to prolong it is impossible. Why ? 
Because the sound is made by closing the lips and tearing 
them rapidly apart. Observe how a man who stammers 
pronounces the word bad. He does not prolong the sound 
of b, — he could not prolong it,- — but he repeats it, closing 
and separating his lips until at length he gets the word out 
Again, take the sounds d and /, pronouncing them as we 
should do, if we started saying words of which they form 
the first letter and stopped as soon as we had got the 
first letter out. Begin to say dog, or ten, and check yourself 
at the end of the d' or t\ No amount of effort will enable 
you to continue the sound uninterruptedly. 

Shall we say then that vowels are sounds which we can 
prolong indefinitely, in other words, which we can keep 
on making without a break, and consonants are sounds 
which come to an end instantaneously? Further experi- 
ments will show that this ground of distinction fails. Take 
the sounds represented by /, v, s, sh, I, m, n, r. Like the 
vowel sounds, these sounds can be prolonged while the 
breath holds out. The distinction between vowels and 
consonants consists rather in this. A vowel is a sound 
by the aid of which we can pronounce any other sound 
at the ordinary pitch of the voice. A consonant is a sound 
by the aid of which we cannot pronounce any other sound 
at the ordinary pitch of the voice. Pronounce once more 
the sounds p\ b', t\ d\ without any accompanying vowel. 
The parting of the lips in /' and F is just audible: so is the 
click of the tongue against the teeth in /' and d\ We cannot 
say that absolutely no sound is produced. If we practised 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. 39 

these experiments in a company of silent people, we should 
make noise enough to attract attention. But the sounds 
would not be uttered at the ordinary pitch of the voice. Con- 
versation across the table in these tones would be inaudible, 
and a speech in so low a key to a public meeting would be 
no better than dumb-show. Add a vowel to these silent 
letters however; say pay y be, toe, daw, and you can make 
yourself heard a hundred yards away. But let us try the 
combination of/, b, t, d, with those other consonants which 
we saw could be uttered by themselves, f, v, s, sh, I, m, n, r % 
If we place together pr, bn, tl, dz, we shall not find that we 
have obtained a combination which can be pronounced at 
the natural pitch of the voice. Instead of saying, therefore, 
that vowels are sounds which can be uttered alone, and con- 
sonants are sounds which can be uttered only by the aid of 
a vowel, let us put the matter thus : 

Vowels are sounds by the aid of which any 
consonantal sound can be audibly produced. 

Consonants are sounds which will not enable 
us to produce audibly sounds which are by them- 
selves almost inaudible. 

44. This account of the difference between vowels and consonants 
does not agree with the account which is usually given. It is commonly 
said that vowels are sounds which can be produced alone, and that con- 
sonants are sounds which can be produced only by the aid of a vowel. 
But though this statement of the matter suits the derivation of the words, 
— for vowel comes from vocalis, which means 'capable of being sounded,' 
and consonant comes from cum, 'together,' and sonans, 'sounding,' i.e. 
'what is sounded along with something else,' — it does not seem to suit 
the facts of the case. If a public speaker incurs the hostility of his 
audience, the ssss... of their disapproval can be heard very w T ell without 
the addition of any vowel to aid its pronunciation. The sh...! with 
which ill-mannered people are rebuked for chattering at a concert ; the 
mmm ? with which we express our hesitation when an acquaintance 
makes a statement or a proposal which does not commend itself to our 
favour, are consonantal sounds which are audible enough when they 
stand alone. 

Then again it is sometimes said that vowels are open sounds and 



4 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

consonants closer and less musical sounds, but this distinction does not 
seem to throw much light on the subject. Or we are told that vowels 
are formed without the stoppage of the breath, and that consonants are 
formed by stopping or by squeezing the breath. All this is interesting, 
no doubt, to us as physiologists, but it is no concern of ours as gram- 
marians whether we stop our breath or only squeeze it, whether we 
vibrate our vocal chords or do something with our larynx or pharynx. 
This is physiology, not grammar. Our business is to distinguish the 
sounds when produced, not to determine the mode of their production. 

45. Classification of Consonantal Sounds. Let 
us now take the consonantal sounds and consider some 
broad distinctions between them. Compare the four sounds 
of cT, f, dh\ tk\ as represented in the words din, tin, thine, 
thin, remembering, as before, to make these sounds by 
beginning to utter the words and stopping short before the 
vowel is reached. Now in these four sounds, there are two 
important distinctions to be noticed : 

46. Sonants and Surds, (i) In the first place, if 
we compare d' with f and dK with th\ we shall observe that 
although the d' and dh y are not audible at the ordinary pitch 
of the voice, still they can be just heard, if an effort is made, 
while the f and tK are scarcely to be heard at all. The 
same contrast may be noticed in other pairs of sounds : 
g, if pronounced when isolated from its vowel, is audible, 
K is less so. The sound of f in jest is audible when it 
stands alone ; cK in chest is less so. The sound of V is just 
audible ; f is almost silent. Various names have been used 
to express this distinction. Some writers call one set of 
sounds Hard and the other Soft; others call one set 
Sharp and the other Flat. Let us compare once more 
V and f and ask ourselves which is hard and which is soft, 
which is sharp and which is flat. If it strikes us that the 
application of these metaphors is obvious, — if these terms at 
once convey their appropriate meaning to our minds, — by all 
means let us continue to make use of them. Possibly 
however we may not be struck by the suitability of the 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH, 41 

epithets, and in that case the old words Sonant and Surd 
will express the difference more plainly for us. Sonant 
means sounding, surd means noiseless. Supposing 
that we fail to see the fitness of calling / hard or sharp 
and b soft or flat, we can see the fitness of calling/ surd and 
b sonant, for we have only to pronounce both letters and 
observe which of the two we can hear most of. By continu- 
ing the experiment, we can distribute all the sonants and surds 
in their right classes, and this is a much better plan than 
learning the lists by heart and then putting the wrong 
names at the top. If we pronounce b, g, d,j\ dh, z, zh, v, w, 
without an accompanying vowel, we can hear them. These 
we call sonants. If we pronounce their correlatives /, k, 
t, ch, th % s, sh, /, wh, without a vowel, they are almost in- 
audible. These we call surds. 

To make this distinction clear, we will give these pairs 
of sounds in two columns with a word to illustrate each. 
They are variously distinguished as — 

Sonant, Flat, Soft, Voiced. Surd, Sharp, Hard, Breathed. 



b, 


bin 


A 


pin 


g% 


gat, gate 


K 


cat, Kate 


d> 


do 


*> 


to 


h 


jest 


ch, 


chest 


dh, 


thine 


tk, 


thin 


z, 


maze 


s, 


mace 


zh, 


azure, pleasure 


s/ij 


shine, sure 


v> 


vat 


/, 


fat 


w, 


wear 


wh 


where 


y> 


yet 




— 



h, hat 

The sound represented by wh is pronounced by Scotchmen and 
Irishmen, but is vulgarly neglected in southern England. Many people 
make no difference in sound between what and wot, when and wen, 
where and were, while and wile. 

The surd corresponding to the sonant y resembles the German ich 
sound. It may be heard occasionally in such English words as hue, 
human. 



42 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The letters w and y are used sometimes with the force of consonants, 
and sometimes with the force of vowels. In wit and yes they are 
consonants: in few and they, vowels. Hence they are called semi- 
vowels. In the sound given to w at the beginning of a word you may 
detect a close resemblance to the vowel-sound in cool or rude. Pro- 
nounce slowly oo-it, oo-et : then increase the speed as you repeat the 
word, and you will find that you are saying wit, wet. Again, take a 
word beginning with a y, such as yes, pronounce it slowly, and you will 
recognise in the sound of its first letter the long vowel sound in feed. 
A person who gives a hesitating ' yes ' in reply to a question says ee-es. 

By some writers h is not admitted to a place among the consonants, 
but is regarded as merely an audible emission of breath before vowels 
or semi-vowels, and called the 'aspiration.' Thus in Greek the original 
h ceased to be a letter and became simply a ' rough breathing. ' 

Now let us return to our four sounds d, /, dh, th, and 
observe what other distinction can be drawn between them, 
besides the distinction of sonant and surd. 



47. Stops and Continuants. (2) The sounds d 
and / are sudden, abrupt, instantaneous, explosive : it is 
impossible to prolong them. The sounds dh, th (as in thine 
and thin, for we often make the sound of dh, though we 
never use this sign for it) are continuous : they can be 
prolonged if we keep on breathing. Hence they are called 
Continuants or Spirants (from the Latin spiro, 'I 
breathe '). The letters /, b, k, g, t, d, are called Stops or 
Mutes, because the sounds are silenced with a sudden 
halt. From the same circumstance they are also called 
Checks, or Explosives. Grammarians have exercised 
much ingenuity in finding a variety of terms to express 
the same distinction, thereby rendering the matter more 
difficult than it naturally is. 

We will now make a second list of consonantal sounds, 
classified according as they are Stops or Continuants : 

Stops, Mutes, Checks, Explosives : p, b, h, g, t, d. 

Continuants, Spirants: ch,j, th, dh, s, 2, sh, zh,f v, wh, w,y, h. 

With the exception of ch and / all these sounds are simple 
or elementary: ch, pronounced as in churchy =t + s/t, 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. 43 



tshurtsh, and j\ as in jest, — d^-zh, dzhest. These two 
composite sounds have been called consonantal diphthongs. 

48. To complete the number of our elementary con- 
sonantal sounds we must add the Liquids, viz. /, m 7 n, r, 
and ng (pronounced as in sing). These are all sonants in 
English. Owing to the fact that the sounds of /, m, n, r 
flowed smoothly on and readily combined with other con- 
sonants, the Greek grammarians two thousand years ago 
called them * fluid* or 'pliant' letters, and this epithet the 
Latin grammarians translated as 'liquid.' 

49. The following list 1 contains all the simple or 
elementary consonantal sounds in English : 



pin 

bin 

Kate 

gate 

to 

do 

lay 

may 

nay 

ray 

sing 



P 
C 

c 
c 
U 



rth, 


thin 


dh> 


thine 


s, 


mace 


z, 


maze 


s/z, 


shine 


zh, 


azure 


f, 


fat 


v, 


vat 


wh, 


where 


w, 


wear 


y, 


yet 


h, 


hat 



The reader must keep clearly in mind the fact that we 
are dealing with elementary sounds, not with our way of 
writing them. Owing to the deficiencies of our alphabet we 
are obliged to use combinations of two letters, — digraphs, 
as grammarians call them, — to represent six of these con- 

1 Adopted, as is also the table of Vowel-sounds on p. 45, from 
Miss Soames's Introduction to the Study of Phonetics. In these sections 
much use has been made of Miss Soames's book, and also of Mr Nes- 
field's English Grammar Past and Present, pp. 377 — 282, to which the 
student is referred for a more detailed treatment of the subject. At the 
end of Mr Nesfield's book a note by Professor Skeat on Vocalic Sounds 
in Modern English has been reprinted. 



44 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

sonants. But the sounds are simple and indivisible. The 
sound of z in azure is different from the sound of z in zebra. 
To mark that difference we have written it zh, but it is not 
a compound of z + h : it is really an elementary sound. 
The sounds of dh in thine and of th in thin are different, 
but they are both of them elementary: they are not com- 
pounds of d + h and of l + h. We need a separate letter for 
each, but we do not possess such a letter for either. And 
the same thing is true of the other digraphs, sh, wh, and ng. 

The letter r is called a Trill, because of the vibration in the sound, 
or in some part of the vocal apparatus by which it is produced. Roll 
out an r as a Frenchman does, rrrr, and this will be recognised at 
once. There is very little of a trill about our English pronunciation of 
the letter. With us the sound of r is heard only when the r is followed 
immediately by a vowel in another syllable or another word. Thus we 
can hear it in fairest, starry ', stir up, but not in fair play, star gazing, 
stir the fire. Literary critics are often severe upon such rhymes as 
morn and dawn, ought said fort, which they describe as execrable. On 
the contrary, in the ears of educated people south of the Humber such 
rhymes are perfect, as the r in morn and fort is silent. 

Sibilants are hissing sounds. They can be picked out easily from 
among the spirants : they are s, z, sh, zh. 

50. Classification of Consonantal Sounds according to Vocal Organs. 
These consonantal sounds may be classified on quite a different 
principle. Hitherto we have dealt with them according to their 
characteristic differences as sounds. But we can also arrange them 
according to the part of the vocal apparatus chiefly concerned in their 
production. Thus we have : — 

Lip-sounds, Labials . . . . . p,b,f,v, wh, w. 

Teeth-sounds, Dentals . . . . I, d, th, dh> s, z. 

Roof-of-mouth sounds, Palatals . . sh, zh, y. 

Throat-sounds, Gutturals . . . . k, g. 

Mouth-of-windpipe sound, Glottal . . h. 

Nose-sounds, Nasals . . . . . m, n, ng. . 

Tongue-sounds, Linguals . . . . /, r. 

The reader will observe that these classes are not mutually exclusive. 
Thus, for example, m is both labial and nasal, n dental and nasal, /and 
z/vdental as well as labial. 

51. Enumeration of Vowel- Sounds. Vowel- 
sounds are either simple or compound in their character. 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. 45 

Compound vowel-sounds are called Diphthongs. The 

words in the following columns illustrate the sixteen simple 

or elementary vowel-sounds employed in our English speech. 

Of these sixteen vowel-sounds, eight are long and eight are < 

short. 

Long vowels Short vowels 

father attend 

far fi^tty 

fairy pat 

fatal pet 

feet pit 

fawn pot 

foeman pillow 

fool put 

In studying this list, direct your attention to the vowel- 
sound of each word. The ways in which we represent these 
sounds in spelling are various, and, from our present point 
of view, unimportant. Thus, for example, the vowel-sound 
of fur appears also in herd, firm, work, learn, myrtle-, the 
vowel-sound of pet appears also in head, many, bury, says, 
heifer, friend, guest. 

The Obscure or Natural Vowel a. The vowel-sound exemplified 
by the a in attend, at the top of the column of short vowels, frequently 
occurs in English words, but only in unaccented syllables. It may be 
heard at the end of villa., sudden, cupboard, in the middle of mira.de, 
tendency, harmony, at the beginning and end of America,, gra.mmaria.n, 
verandah. It is called the Obscure vowel, or the Natural vowel, — 
natural, because the sound is produced with the minimum of effort. 
Hence boys who get into difficulties over their construing, and orators 
who are at a loss to proceed with their speeches, occupy the intervals 
with this sound. This natural vowel bears a closer resemblance in 
sound to the vowel-sound of putty ox fur than to that of pat, with which 
it has often been wrongly identified. 

Observe that many words written with an r at the end are pro- 
nounced in the south of England with this Natural vowel in place of 
the r. Say the words hair, here, poor, our, by themselves or when 
followed by words beginning with a consonant, and you will hear no r. 
On the stage and in the comic papers this substitution of the Natural 



46 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

vowel for r is caricatured, when the dandy is represented as saying 
* De-ah me ! What a bo-ah I ' If however final r is followed by a 
vowel, it has its consonantal sound. Compare, e.g., dear aunt and 
dear me, poor Ellen and poor Tom. 



52. Diphthongs are blends or combinations of two 
vowel-sounds which are run together in pronunciation. At 
this point great care is needed not to be misled by the 
diphthongs of print, ce, oe, neither of which, in our English 
pronunciation, is a true diphthong at all. The oe of Ccesar 
is no diphthong in sound ; it is the same as the pure vowel- 
sound of feet. So is the oe of foetid. The ea in lead, ie in 
field, ei in receive, are none of them true diphthongs : they 
are only more or less clumsy ways of showing the length of 
an elementary vowel-sound. 

The true diphthongs in English, — those in which two 
vowel-sounds are run into one, — are five in number : viz. 

i in fine : this is a blend of the a in German mann, — 
a sound of a which is extinct in modern English except 
provincially, — and of the / in pit. The blend of the a in 
father with the / in pit gives us the broader diphthongal 
sound heard in aye, when we say c The Ayes have it. J 

oi in noise : this is a blend of the vowel-sounds in fawn 
and ///. 

ou in house: this is a blend of the vowel-sounds in father 
and put. 

u in use : this is a blend of the vow r el-sounds in /// and 
fool. 

In a drawling pronunciation it is possible to detect the elementary 
vowel-sounds which form the diphthongal blend. Persons of defective 
education will talk of ' a bee-ootiful baw-ee,' or ' a na-ice ha-use,' when 
they mean ' a beautiful boy ' or ' a nice liouse.' It should be specially 
observed that although the i in fine is a single letter, it is diphthongal 
in sound, and the same is true of the u in use. These diphthongal 
sounds can be represented in many other ways. Thus i is heard in try, 
die, dye, sigh, guide, buy, aisle, eye. Oi is expressed by oy in boy, by 
uoy in buoy. Ow or ough often occurs instead of ou. Diphthongal u is 
variously written as ue (sue), ui {suit), eu (feud), you, yew, ewe. 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. 47 

Consider next the vowel-sounds of fate and foe. It is undeniable 
that these are really diphthongal. In each case the vowel with which 
we start glides into a different vowel with which we close. Thus we 
pronounce fate zsfay-eet or fay-it and foe as fo-00. If you question this 
statement run up or down the scale singing fate or foe and note the 
result. Unless you have been taught singing by a good master, before 
you have reached half way the vowel-sound which you are producing 
will be ee or 00. Fay-eet and fo-00 are blends as complete as ?ia-ice or 
ha~use. And hence some authorities class the vowel-sounds of fate and 
foe with the true diphthongs. There is some convenience however in 
placing them in the list of elementary vowel-sounds while recognising 
that in the standard speech of southern England they have acquired 
a diphthongal character. For when they occur at the end of a syllable 
which is followed by another syllable their sound is almost if not quite 
pure. Thus in fa-tal, la-dy, na-vy, and in foe-man, no-ble, poker, the 
secondary vowel-sound, which is prominent in fate and foe, is scarcely 
perceptible. Our English tendency to turn long vowels into diphthongs 
makes it a difficult matter for us to acquire the right pronunciation of 
such words as ete and drole in French, or geh and so in German, for in 
French and German these vowel-sounds are pure. But the feat, though 
difficult, is not impossible. 

The reader may have felt surprised at finding in the list of short 
vowel-sounds the of pillow. That this differs from the in pot is 
obvious enough, but he may have been inclined to identify it with the 
of foe. As we have just seen, the of foe finishes in the sound of 00 : 
now the 00 element is almost inaudible in the of pillow. This short 
occurs only in unaccented syllables, whether at the beginning of a word, 
as in omit, in the middle, as in proceed, or at the end, as in pillow. To 
substitute the Natural vowel for this final and say fella, winda, instead 
of fellow, window, is a vulgarism. 

In dealing with the letter r we pointed out that its characteristic 
trilled sound is heard in English only when the r is followed by a vowel 
in the next syllable or the next word. And in dealing with the Natural 
vowel we saw that an untrilled r, — an r followed by a consonant, — is 
often replaced by this vowel-sound. When we pronounce the word fair, 
what we really say is fae-a, the Natural vowel taking the place of r. It 
is only in words such as fair-y, fairest, car-ing, bear-er, words with a 
trilled r, that the pure long vowel-sound is heard. A similar substitu- 
tion takes place when we say beer, boar, boor-, our actual pronunciation 
is bee-a, bo-a, boo-a. In each case we begin with one vowel-sound and 
end with another. But the blend is not complete. The component 
- parts remain distinct. You will find many lines in Shakespeare in 
which such words asfire and dear form two syllables, but no actor could 
make more than one syllable of a word containing a true diphthong, 



48 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

such as fight and doubt. We may therefore call these combinations 
Imperfect Diphthongs. 



53. We have now enumerated 23 pure consonants, 
16 pure vowels, 5 true diphthongs, and 4 imperfect diph- 
thongs. Of our pure vowels two would be placed by some 
authorities amongst the diphthongs. Adhering however to 
the scheme adopted in the preceding pages, we give 39 as 
the sum-total of elementary sounds in English as spoken 
to-day. 

Now if we run over the letters of the alphabet, we 
shall see that some of them find no place in our classification. 
The following letters are absent from the list : — c, q, j, x. 
Why is this ? 

The letter ^is absent because it represents no sound 
in English not already represented by k, s, or sh. Cat 
is pronounced precisely as kat would be pronounced, city 
as sity, special as speshal. Thus the letter c is superfluous. 

The letter q occurs only before u and, in combination 
with it, represents the sound of k + w, a compound, as in 
queen, or, more rarely, the simple sound of k, as in quay, 
cheque. 

For a different reason we reject the other two letters. 
They do not stand for simple or elementary sounds at 
all, but represent compounds. So — 

j is a combination of d+zh, 

x „ ,, „ k + s in excel, or of g + z in exert. 

Notice that not only can these sounds be represented 
by a combination of letters, but they ought to be represented 
thus. For it is the business of the alphabet to furnish us 
with separate signs for simple sounds but not for 
compound sounds. There is no more reason why we 
should have a shorthand symbol in one letter to express 
k + s than there is reason why the alphabet should supply 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH. 49 

us with a shorthand symbol for and. Such a symbol we do 
indeed possess in the form &, but we do not regard this 
symbol as a letter of the alphabet, and nobody but an 
American humourist would employ it in spelling other words, 
writing 'h&some' for handsome and 'underst&' for under- 
stand. The like criticism applies to the compound sound 
represented by j. The objection may be raised that, if x is 
rejected because it can be represented by k + s, we ought to 
get rid of/ because it can be represented by/ + h, and that we 
might spell Jife, phiphe, just as we spell philosophy with a ph. 
But the cases are quite different. The sound of f is not a 
compound of p + h. It is a simple sound, and it is entitled 
to a separate letter. It is the use of the ph for / which 
is open to censure from the alphabetical stand-point. We 
use the ph because the words containing it come from 
the Greek, but if we spelt according to sound, the ph 
would disappear, and we should write filosofy instead of 
philosophy. 

54. The following points connected with the subject of sounds in 
English deserve attention : 

(1) Two mutes of unequal degrees of sharpness and flatness cannot 
be sounded together in the same syllable ; or, if we employ the terms 
which we saw reason to prefer, a sonant and a surd in juxtaposition 
cannot be pronounced in the same syllable. We may write them 
together, but to sound them both as they are written is impossible. It 
is important to notice this, because sonants and surds often are thus 
written together, when we form the plurals of nouns or the past tenses of 
verbs. The ordinary way of making plurals is to add -s to the singular. 
Now j is a surd mute. Add s to a noun ending in a surd sound, e.g. 
pat, and the result can be pronounced as it is written, pats. But add s 
to a noun ending in a sonant sound, e.g. pad \ and the result cannot be 
pronounced as it is written, pads. What we do pronounce is padz, two 
sonants. We naturally make the ending s give way and turn it into z, 
instead of preserving the s and changing the last letter of the word into 
/, as this latter course would alter the meaning of the noun. If we try 
the experiment with other nouns ending in sonant letters, e.g. hog, slab, 
we shall find that it is beyond our power to keep the sound of the g or 
b and at the same time to give its proper sound to the final s. We 
must say either hogz, slabz, or hocks, slaps. The same principle is seen 
W. E. G. 4 



5o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

at work in the past tense of verbs when an ed is added to the present. 
Take the word walk and add ed: k is a surd sound, d is a sonant. One 
or other of the sounds must give way, if we pronounce them in the same 
syllable. The d gives way, otherwise the root itself would be changed, 
and we pronounce the past tense as if it were written with a surd /, 
walkt. The same thing happens with such words as slap, hiss, cuff, in 
which we write slapped, hissed, cuffed, but give these forms the sound of 
slapt, hisst, cufft. 

(2) Our natural laziness induces us to save trouble in the pronuncia- 
tion of sounds. Accordingly we find — 

i. That sounds which involve a good deal of effort in their utter- 
ance tend to disappear from words. Thus if was formerly gif, day was 
daeg, godly was godlic. We no longer sound the gh in light and similar 
words, though we continue to write it. Many words which now begin 
with a y began in old English with a g. 

Again, words have in many instances lost a syllable, sometimes at 
the beginning, sometimes in the middle, sometimes at the end. If we 
compare bishop with episcopal, we see that the word has been shorn of its 
initial e\ so diamond \s ada?nant without the initial a: bus is omnibus 
after a double decapitation. Palsy is the same as paralysis with the -ra- 
dropped out : proxy is procuracy in reduced circumstances. Examples 
of the tendency to cut words down at the end occur in cab, which used 
to be cabriolet, in miss, which is a curtailed form of mistress, and in 
consols, which represents consolidated stocks. School slang supplies 
illustrations of the same process of abridgment in the words exam for 
examination, trans and con for translation and construe. 

ii. But, curiously, letters have in some cases crept into words, 
apparently to render the pronunciation easier. If we compare with the 
Latin numerus, tener, camera, the English number, tender, chamber, we 
notice the insertion of a b or a d. It is supposed that to pronounce these 
words with the b or d was found less trouble than to pronounce them 
without these strengthening letters. For the like reason we have put 
an n into passager and made passenger, an in between the two syllables 
o{ night -gale and made nightingale, an a between the two syllables of 
black-moor and made blackamoor. All such changes are called euphonic, 
or are said to be made for the sake of euphony, i.e. owing to our desire 
to save ourselves effort in speech when we can. 

(3) Umlaut. We sometimes find that, when a syllable containing a 
short vowel is added to a word, there is a tendency to shorten the vowel 
of the original word into something more nearly approaching conformity 
with the vowel of the ending. This process is calied Umlaut. Thus 
the addition of the suffix turns cat into kitten, cock into chicken, thumb 
into thimble, fox into vixen. 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH, 51 

(4) Metathesis. Sometimes the order of the letters in a word is 
transposed : this change is called metathesis. To say waps for wasp is 
a vulgarism now, but it was good Old English. A countryman says aks 
for ask, haps for hasp. The Ridings of Yorkshire are thridings, i.e. 
third-ings or 'third parts.' Nostrils are nose-thirles ', i.e. * nose-holes.' 

(5) Accent is the stress of the voice laid upon a syllable in a word. 
Emphasis is the stress laid upon a word or words in a sentence. Accent 
has exercised an influence in producing some of the changes mentioned 
above. The word episcopus was cut down to bishops and procuracy to 
proxy \ as we said, to economise labour, but it was owing to the fact that 
the suppressed syllables were unaccented that people felt themselves at 
liberty to drop them out of these words. We may often observe the 
tendency to clip words improperly when the neglected syllable carries 
no accent ; thus boys say excise for exercise, HVty for liberty. 

In modern English the tendency is to throw the accent near the 
beginning of the word, but this tendency is counteracted, sometimes 
by our desire to lay the stress on the root of the word rather 
than on a mere prefix, and sometimes by foreign influence, many French 
and Latin words preserving their own accentuation. The accent 
rarely goes further back than the third syllable from the end of the 
word ; when it goes further back than this there is a secondary accent, 
an echo of the first, as in tfaipordry, heteroddx, heterogeneous ; but 
usually its place is on the third syllable from the end, as in gedlogy, 
exlrdvagant, miscelldneous, incomprehensible. We do not throw the 
accent as far back as we might in disorder ; interference, diversion, and 
many similar words, perhaps because we wish to lay stress on the 
important part of the word and not on its prefix; but no general 
principle can be stated respecting our usage in this matter. There is 
no consistency in our practice, for the accent is carried back to the 
prefix in these words, — innocent \ cdntroversy, deference. In the following 
words the accentuation is due to foreign influence ; — crusade, cavalier, 
balldon, routine, antique, are French; robust, mordse, benign, humane, 
are Latin. The words senator and Srator have become thoroughly 
naturalized, and we lay the stress on the first syllable, in conformity 
with the general tendency of accentuation in English. The less familiar 
curator and testator preserve the accent which they had in Latin. 

Many words in English differ in meaning according to their accent. 
There are upwards of fifty pairs of nouns and verbs like decent and 
accent, escort and escdrt, rebel and rebel, in which the noun has the accent 
on the first syllable, and the verb has it on the last. Almost all these 
words are of Latin origin. In the words absent and frequent we have 
verb and adjective distinguished by the accent : in compact and expert 
noun and adjective are thus distinguished. Other examples are given in 
the Questions at the end of this chapter. 

4—2 



52 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Questions. 

i. Say whether the sounds corresponding to the following letters 
are (i) sonant or surd, (2) mute or spirant, (3) labial, dental, guttural, or 
palatal ; — k, d, z, f, th, m. 

2. Which of the following combinations cannot be pronounced as 
they are written? Why not? — tacks, tags; dogs, docks ; staffs, staves; 
sods, sots ; slaps, slabs ; jumped, crazed, crashed, robbed, stopped, flocked, 
flogged. 

3. Explain the nature of the changes which the following words 
exhibit when they are compared with the corresponding forms supplied 
by other languages, or by our own language at an earlier stage: — 
* enough,' Ger. genug: 'I,' Ger. ich\ 'lord/ O. E. hldford: 'rain,' 
Ger. regeni 'way,' Ger. weg\ * morrow, Ger. morgen: 'warden* and 
'guardian': 'warrant' and 'guarantee': 'story' and 'history': 'spite' 
and 'despite': 'uncle,' Lat. avunculus: 'dropsy,' Gk. hydrops: 'miss' 
and 'mistress': 'petty,' Fr. petit: 'peril,' Lat. periculum: 'sexton' 
and 'sacristan': 'citizen,' Fr. citoyen: 'firth' and 'frith': 'long' and 
'linger': 'old' and 'elder': 'vain' and 'vanity': 'cook' and 'kitchen': 
'thunder,' Ger. donner: 'city,' Lat. civitas: 'priest' and 'presbyter': 
'tremble' and 'tremor': 'gender,' Lat. genere : 'Birmingham' and 
' Brummagem.' 

4. How does the accent of the following words affect their mean- 
ing? — affix, contest, frequent, august, torment, refuse, compact, desert, 
conjure, collect, minute, invalid. 

5. These words were formerly accented in the following way: — 
bondage, advertisement, balcdny, mischievous, acadhny, contrary. Mark 
the syllable on which the accent falls now. What tendency does the 
change indicate? What means have we of knowing that a word once 
bore a different accent from the accent which it bears now ? , 

6. Some letters are said to be superfluous. Exemplify this with 
respect to some of the letters in the following sentence: — 'The fox ran 
quickly near the city walls.' 

7. Give words illustrating the various sounds represented by the 
letter a in English. 

Classify the mute consonants into labials, dentals, and gutturals; 
and also into thin, middle, and aspirate. 



ELEMENTARY SOUNDS IN ENGLISH, 53 

[The following table contains the classification required : 





Surds 


Sonants 






Thin 


Middle 


. 




Sharp 


Flat 


Aspirate 




Hard 


Soft 




Labials 


P 


b 


ph, bh 


Dentals 


t 


d 


th, dh 


Gutturals 


k 


g 


kh, gh 



The student must observe that none of these aspirated mutes occur 
in English. The aspirated mute/// is not the/" sound of photograph: it 
is the ph of uphold. The th is not the sound which we have in thin : it 
is the sound which we have in at home. The kh is the Greek %, not 
the sound of ch in church or loch. The sounds of ph, th, ch, as we 
pronounce them are not Mutes at all: they are Spirants or Breaths. 
See Abbott and Seeley's English Lessons, p. 283.] 

8. Distinguish the true from the false Diphthongs in the following 
words : — pain, noise, new, people, yeoman, build, now, found, eye, clean, 
rough. 

9. Distinguish the meanings of canon and cannon ; transport and 
transpSrt; decent and accent ; dissent and descent; ingenious and 
ingenuous-, dfocrt, desert and dessert-, virtue and vertu; expert and 
expert*, supine and supine. 

10. What are Doublets ? How have they arisen ? 

[Words which proceed from the same original but have assumed 
different forms are called 'doublets.' See § 18. The shortening of 
words owing to the loss of an unaccented syllable also produces 
doublets: see § 54, (2) i.] 

11. From the list of words illustrating the sixteen elementary 
vowel-sounds in English (given in § 51, p. 45) select the word which 
has a vowel-sound corresponding to the italicised letter or letters in each 
of the following words : — haul, yeast, obey, guard, margarine, tough, 
guild, said, staid, ieast, earth, pour, tour, busy, h^'fer, sew, fern, hood, 
flood, pretty, what, leopard, gaol, heir, dove, wool, bouquet, any, people, 
gamboge, canvas, martyr, syrup, furlough, d^t«*, brewer, widow, reality, 
aunt, sauce, abate, oppress, machmtfry, mischievous, attack, foreign, 
pn?clamatz'0n, pr^fess^r, c<?mpan^, influenza. 



54 



CHAPTER VI. 
Signs or Letters. 

55. How may our 100,000 words or significant sounds 
be represented best in writing? 

One way would be to have a different symbol or picture 
for every word, after the fashion of the Chinese. But con- 
sider how awkward and troublesome such a method of 
representing our words would be. Think of the burden on 
the memory of associating even five hundred words with as 
many distinct pictures. To learn the meaning of five thou- 
sand such pictures would require years of study. Try to 
realise our difficulties if, instead of representing numbers by 
a combination of the digits o to 9 and by using the device 
of place, we employed a different symbol for every different 
number. Our means of numeration would in this case 
be of a very imperfect character. Now, although 100,000 
distinct sounds may exist in English speech, these distinct 
sounds are formed by the combination of about forty simple 
or elementary sounds; and a corresponding number of sym- 
bols, or signs, or letters, combined together, will enable us 
to represent all our existing words and as many additional 
words as our language may hereafter receive. Suppose that 
the words gun, rod, were represented by pictures, and that 
a person had never learnt these pictures, or having learnt 
them had forgotten their meaning, he would be at a loss to 
understand the sense of a passage in which they occurred. 



SIGNS OR LETTERS, 55 

But when he has once learnt the meaning of the signs g y u, n, 
r, o, d, he can combine them so as to represent these 
words, or can interpret the words when he sees them in 
print, as rapidly as he can write down the sign for three- 
hundred- and-twenty-seven, or recognise the meaning of 327, 
when he has once mastered the use of figures. 

56. We saw in the preceding chapter that in pronounc- 
ing English words we make use of 16 distinct simple or 
elementary vowel-sounds and of 23 simple or elementary 
consonantal sounds. Thus there is a total of 39 simple 
sounds for which we require 39 separate signs. Diphthongs 
would be expressed by writing in juxtaposition the signs of 
those vowels of which they form blends. If we had a 
perfect alphabet, it would fulfil these two conditions : 

1. Every simple or elementary sound would 
have a separate sign : 

2. No such sound would have more than one 
sign. 

And then, if we always used our perfect alphabet con- 
sistently and employed its proper sign for each of these 
sounds, it would be as easy a matter to spell a word when 
we had learnt our alphabet, as it is to write down a number 
when we have learnt the use of figures. Such a system of 
spelling would be phonetic, that is, spelling according 
to the sound. Our spelling is far from being phonetic. 
The chief cause of this is the imperfect nature of our 
alphabet. We saw that of the twenty-six letters which it 
contains, four are useless, c y j, q, and x> so our twenty-six 
letters are reduced to twenty-two, by means of which we 
have to express thirty-nine simple sounds. The alphabet is 
open to the twofold criticism that it is (1) Deficient, to 
the extent of nearly half the requisite number of letters, and 
(2) Redundant, in possessing four letters which are of no 
use. 



56 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The deficiency is best seen in the vowels, of which we 
enumerated sixteen : these are represented by five signs, so 
eleven signs are lacking under this head. Of the twenty- 
three elementary consonantal sounds, six are without cor- 
responding separate signs, — zh, sh, dh, th, w/i, ng. This 
brings up the deficiency to seventeen. Diphthongs, as we 
said, we propose to indicate by placing together the letters 
representing the vowel-sounds of which they are composed. 
We saw that the available signs in our present alphabet are 
twenty-two in number. Add to these the seventeen signs 
which are wanting, and we obtain a perfect alphabet of 
thirty-nine letters with which to represent the thirty-nine 
simple sounds in our language. 

57. A phonetic system would be of immense advantage in saving 
the time which we spend during our early life in learning how to spell. 
To master an alphabet of thirty-nine letters would of course take longer 
than to master an alphabet of twenty-six letters. But the alphabet once 
learnt, mistakes in spelling would be almost as rare as mistakes are now 
in writing down numbers. Spelling-books and dictation would be 
almost unnecessary. This is what we should gain by adopting the 
system. The drawback to the introduction of the system would be 
this, that our printed books would be out of date. To the generation 
which had learnt the new system, our existing literature would be un- 
intelligible until it was reprinted according to the reformed method. 
This disadvantage would not however be very serious. All the books 
which are worth reading by the ordinary man might be printed in the 
revised version at a small cost, and the student who used our present 
libraries of English works for purposes of research would soon over- 
come the difficulties of our present spelling well enough to read existing 
books. 

But the system stands no chance of being adopted because of 
two obstacles in the way. (i) People who have learnt our present 
mode of spelling will never consent to begin reading over again with 
a new ABC at middle-age. And (ii) a uniform pronunciation must 
be adopted throughout the country before a phonetic system can be 
introduced. If a Lancashire man reverses the vowel sounds in put 
and butter and spells phonetically, the words put and butter would be 
written with their vowels reversed in the north and in the south of 
England. On the other hand, if these words are written in the same 
way throughout the country while the pronunciation varies in different 
parts, the spelling is no longer phonetic. 



SIGNS OR LETTERS, 57 

It is sometimes urged as an objection against a phonetic mode of 
spelling, that the etymology, or derivation, of many words would be 
obscured by its adoption ; that the word city y for example, if spelt siti, 
would fail to suggest to our minds the Latin civitas and its train of 
ennobling associations. But this line of objection seems a little in- 
sincere and pedantic. To the student of English, reflexion and 
research would reveal the meaning of the word however it might be 
spelt, and as for the ordinary man, we may be quite sure that when he 
goes up to town in his omnibus he is thinking of the City in quite other 
connexions than its ennobling associations with the Latin civitas. It 
is urged again that a phonetic system would obscure words pro- 
nounced alike but written differently, such as chord, cord ; pear, 
pair, pare; hair, hare, and so on. But this seems a somewhat 
childish objection. Box and post have various meanings, but the 
context shows us which is the right one, and if we can understand 
a man who uses the word hare in conversation, without his stopping 
to explain that he means an animal, no one but a person of pains- 
taking stupidity would find any ambiguity in the word when he met 
with it in print. 

58. As our alphabet is defective to the extent of seven- 
teen out of the thirty-nine letters which it ought to contain, 
extra duty has to be performed by some of the twenty-two 
available letters. Thus to show that a vowel is long or 
short, various devices are employed, which are called ortho- 
graphical expedients. 

We know that a vowel is long — 

1, if a mute e comes at the end of the word, as gate, rote, site, 

7, if an a is inserted after the vowel, as neat, coat. 

3, if the vowel is doubled, as feed, cool. 

The three processes are illustrated by the words mete, meat, meet. 

We show that a vowel is short by doubling the consonant which 
follows it, as dinner, getting, rotten. 

59. The deficiencies of the alphabet would inevitably 
make our spelling irregular and unscientific, but inconsistency 
runs riot in our orthography to an extent which is really 
impressive. We may illustrate this in two ways by showing 

(1) how the same sound is represented by a variety of 
letters : 

(2) how the same letter or combination of letters stands 
for a variety of sounds. 



5 8 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

As examples of (i), let us take the sound of a in fate. Other ways 
of representing this sound readily suggest themselves: — laid, m'n, say, 
vrey, gauge, gaol, break, eh. 

Other ways of representing the sound of o in no : — coat, rote, soul, 
roe, yeoman, owe, though, sew, sow. 

The sound of e in me : — beat, lwt, m<?t<f, reh'rf, dec«t, key, quay, 
machme, p^ple. 

The consonants afford fewer examples of these eccentricities, but 
they afford some. 

The /"sound in /ill is expressed also in philosophy, qua^j laugh. 

The k sound in kit appears in rat, back, quay, ache. 

The s in sin is represented in dnder, jrent, .f^ism. 

In illustration of (2), we will take examples of single letters, vowel 
and consonant, and of combinations of letters, the sounds of which are 
not uniform. 

The letter a illustrates the variety of uses to which a single sign may 
be put. It represents five distinct vowel-sounds in fat, fare, fate, father, 
fall, and is used in many words where it is not pronounced at all ; e.g. it 
shows that the preceding vowel is long in boat, meat : it has the sound 
of in what, and of e in many. 

As examples from the consonants, take J, which is sonant in praise, 
surd in .ring, stands for zh in measure, for sh in mansion, and is silent id 
ij-le or aule. 

The letter g has one sound in gum, another in ^em ; followed by h 
its sound is sometimes that of / as in laugh, and sometimes it is 
not sounded at all, as in thou^. 

Some combinations of letters are very uncertain in their pronuncia- 
tion : ough is a good instance of this. Though, through, cough, rough, 
plough, by no means exhaust the list of various sounds. 

Of the English alphabet we may therefore say that it is 
(1) Defective, (2) Redundant, and (3) Inconsistent. 

60. Why is English spelling so difficult ? 

1. Because the alphabet is defective, and its defici- 
encies are supplied by different devices in different words. 

2. Because our spelling has been pretty well fixed for 
nearly three hundred years, since the translation of the 
Bible in James I.'s reign supplied a standard of orthography 
throughout the country, whilst the pronunciation has 
probably changed largely in the interval. 

3. Because our words have come to us from 



SIGNS OR LETTERS. 59 

many sources, and we have kept the spelling which they 
had in the languages from which we took them but have 
given the words an English pronunciation. Thus we spell 
city with a c, not with an s, because it comes from civitas; 
philosophy with a ph and not with an f 9 ^/zemistry with a ch 
and not with a h, because of their Greek origin ; visuals has 
a c because of the Latin victus, from vivo; doubt has a b 
because of the Latin dubito\ syntax from the Greek would 
be obscured in the guise of sintahs, and phlegm would be 
changed from its original beyond recognition if we wrote 
it Jlem. 

61. Where did our English alphabet come 
from, and how did we get it ? 

Our alphabet came from the Latin alphabet, the Latin 
from the Greek, and the Greek from the Phoenician. 
During the Roman occupation of Britain, the Britons 
picked up the Latin alphabet, and the English learnt it 
from the Britons. Before their migration to this country 
the English had an alphabet which was in use among 
the Teutonic tribes, called Runic. Inscriptions containing 
these runes still exist on stones and crosses in Norway and 
Sweden, in the north of England and in parts of Scotland. 
When the English settlers adopted the Roman alphabet 
they preserved two of their own runes, the letters called 
wen and thorn. Wen or w was written p; thorn or th 
and dh was written ]> and afterwards ft. The letters w 
and th took their place after the Norman Conquest. The 
word the would in Old English characters be written J> e . 
Hence has arisen the notion that in Old English it was 
written y e or ye and so pronounced. People who devise 
programmes for fancy fairs, in what they conceive to be the 
Early English style, have the idea that the frequent use of 
y for the and the addition of an e at the end of every word 
which ends in a consonant will convert 19th century Eng- 



6o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

lish into 9th century English. But this is a mistake. Our 
forefathers said the as we say it, though they wrote it with 
a single sign for the /A, and correctly so, for the sound 
is a simple one. 

The letter j was originally used merely as a different 
form of i, an i with a tail to it. The sounds which we 
now represent by i and j were not distinguished by symbol 
till the 17th century. Rather earlier than this, a distinction 
was made in the use of the letters u and v so that they re- 
presented respectively vowel and consonant. 

The word alphabet comes from the names of the first 
two letters of the Greek alphabet, alpha, beta. 

62. This seems to be a suitable point at which to give 
an answer to the question, — When are Capital letters 
to be used? 

1. At the beginning of every sentence. 

2. At the beginning of every line in poetry. 

3. At the beginning of quoted passages : e.g. He said, 
" Let us go and see." 

4. For Proper names. 

5. For the various names of God. 

6. For titles of office and officials: — Secretaryship of 
the Treasury, Lord Chancellor : but capitals are often dis- 
pensed with in these cases. 

7. Sometimes at the beginning of nouns and adjectives, 
to call attention to their importance. 

8. For the pronoun /and for the interjection O. 

Questions. 

1. What is meant by Orthography? Point out any orthographical 
irregularities in the spelling of scent ; island; proceed, precede \ sovereign. 

[Through ignorance of the derivation (French sentir) the c was 
introduced into scent t and the s was inserted in Hand owing to con- 
fusion with isle or insula. Both proceed and precede contain the Latin 



SIGNS OR LETTERS. 61 

cedo. Why should this be differently represented in the two words? 
Sovereign has been spelt thus owing to a mistaken idea that it comes 
from reign. It should be sovran.] 

2. Give examples of the different pronunciation of these letters: — 
t, u, ie, ti, ch. 

3. In what other ways do we represent the sounds of au in haul 9 
in fond \ g in ginger, x in Xenophon, sc in science? 

4. Mention words in which the following letters are written but 
not sounded: — p, b, gh, t, /• 

5. Give illustrations from the English language (1) of the softening 
of the final guttural, (2) of the substitution oidiox th, (3) of the loss of 
letters, (4) of the insertion of the letters b and d, 

6. Show that the orthography and the pronunciation of several 
English words are at variance. Can you account for the discrepancy? 

[Refer to §§ 59 and 60. Dou3t, receipt, hymn, r^ronicle, ^our, 
psalm, vzVcount, £now, would be suitable examples for annotation.] 

7. Give examples in English spelling of — 

(1) single letters representing double sounds : 

(2) two or more letters representing an indivisible sound : 

(3) different letters representing the same sound : 

(4) the same letter representing different sounds : 

(5) redundant and silent letters. 

8. It is said that the introduction of a system of purely phonetic 
spelling would obliterate traces of the history of many of our words. 
Show the force of this remark in the case of the following : — chronometer ; 
phantom, vitiate , honour, rheumatism. 

9. Explain the presence of the italicised letters in the following 
words: — de£t, wet/er, paz'r, favour, number, r^yme, blackamoor. 

10. Describe some of the anomalies of our modern spelling, and 
mention words which are not spelt uniformly by standard writers. 

[A few typical examples of uncertain orthography are subjoined : 
add to the list. yudg{e)ment, recal(l)s y mov(e)able, benefitted, moniedt 
dul(t)ness, civilize, favo{u)r, gallop(p)ed.] 

ii. In what other ways are the following words spelt in current 
literature ? — programme, rhyme, inflexion, medieval. Can you say any- 
thing for or against them ? 

[Programme was borrowed from the French, not compounded (like 
telegram) from the Greek. Rhyme is thus spelt from a wrongly-supposed 
connexion with rhythm. Inflexion is the correct form, as the supine- 
stem of the Latin flecto \sflex-, not fleet-.] 

12. Mention some of the most important facts in the history of our 
Alphabet. 



62 



CHAPTER VII. 

Etymology. 

63. A language is a collection of articulate and 
significant sounds. If we listen to a baby, we find that 
his utterances consist of such sounds as ul-ul-ul, ga-ga, 
um-um, sounds which are merely noises, like the barking of a 
dog or the crowing of a cock. Significance, or meaning, 
they may indeed have, and the observant mother or nurse 
may understand that one noise is made when the baby wants 
his bottle and that another expresses his happiness when he 
has got it. But to persons outside the family circle these 
cries convey no more meaning than the cries of the farm- 
yard. Articulate they certainly are not. When the baby 
says 'pa/ ' ma/ we remark with truth that he is beginning 
to talk quite nicely. Talk, speech, words, — these terms 
point to sounds which are significant and articulate, and 
such sounds in English form the subject-matter with which 
we have to deal in English grammar. In our daily lives 
we commonly use words in connexion with other words to 
form sentences, but we can consider them by themselves, 
though we do not use them by themselves. The part of 
grammar which treats of words taken separately is called 
Etymology : the part which treats of words as forming 
portions of a sentence is called Syntax. In dealing 
with Etymology we shall often find it useful to cross the 
confines of Syntax. 



ETYMOLOGY. 63 

64. Etymology deals with the classification of 
words, their derivation, and inflexion. 

There are various ways of classifying words. 
In the dictionary we arrange them in alphabetical order; 
in the spelling-book we arrange them according to their 
number of syllables. Now as language is employed by 
us for the expression of our thoughts, and our thoughts 
are usually expressed in sentences, for the purposes of 
grammar we shall group the words of the language in 
classes according to their different functions in 
the sentences which we form with them to express our 
meaning. By ' different functions ' we mean the special 
work accomplished by different kinds of words. The 
function of a pump is to raise water; of a balance to 
weigh things ; of a noun to serve as a name of things ; 
of a verb to make assertions about things. Small differ- 
ences of function may be neglected in the classification 
of words, (just as we classify a machine as a pump, whether 
it is a force-pump or a common-pump), but we cannot use- 
fully reduce the number of classes of words in grammar 
below eight, and these eight different classes we call the 
Parts of Speech. 

65. The Parts of Speech are the classes into 
which the words of a language fall, when they 
are arranged according to their separate functions 
in a sentence. 

The following sentence contains eight words, and the part played by 
every one of the eight is different: 

"Oh! and was he in good health yesterday?" 

Oh is an interjection, a sound expressing sudden feeling. We could 
omit it from the sentence without disturbing the construction: as the 
derivation of the name implies, it is something 'thrown in.' 

And is a conjunction: it joins on the words which follow it to the 
previous sentence. 

Was is a verb. 



64 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

He is a pronoun. 

In is a preposition showing that the noun health stands in a certain 
relation to the rest of the sentence. 

Good is an adjective limiting or restricting the meaning of the word 
health. 

Health is a noun. 

Yesterday is an adverb limiting the application of the verb as regards 
time. 

66. In parsing a word, our first business is to refer it 
to its proper class among these parts of speech. The form 
of the word is seldom of help to us in English when we 
are thus engaged. It is often necessary to look to the 
context before we can decide in any particular case to 
what class the word belongs. 

Thus in the sentence 'The after growth was considerable,' after is 
an adjective: in ''After me, the deluge,' it is a preposition: in 'Jill 
came tumbling after, 1 it is an adverb: in 'He called after you left,' it 
has the force of a conjunction. So again the word stone has various 
functions in different sentences. In ' Stone him to death, ' it is a verb : 
in 'He threw a stone, 1 it is a noun: in 'This is a stone fence,' it is an 
adjective. Once more, the word but serves in many capacities. In 
'Many are called, but few are chosen,' it is a conjunction: in ' But few 
are chosen,' where but signifies 'only,' it is an adverb : in 'All but John 
were drowned,' where but signifies 'except,' it is a preposition: in 
'There is no one but thinks you mad,' but does the work of a relative 
pronoun with a negative attached, * There is no one who does not think 
you mad.' 

67. Attempts have been made to reduce these eight 
parts of speech to a smaller number of groups. Thus 
words have been arranged in the following four divisions : 

i. Names of Things . J 1 " ^ ouns ' . _ 

(2. Personal Pronouns. 

( 3. Adjectives. 

ii. Expressing Attributes ^4. Verbs. 

( 5. Adverbs. 

iii. Expressing Relations j 6 " Conjunctions between sentences. 

r & (7. Prepositions, between things. 

iv. Expressing Sudden Feelings, 8. Interjections. 

At our present stage there would be no advantage in 
discussing this or any similar scheme in detail. From the 



ETYMOLOGY. 65 

purely grammatical point of view, it is more important to 
notice that some of the parts of speech are inflected 
and others are not. 

68. Inflexion is a variation in the form of a 
word to mark a modification of its meaning. Thus 
-s in fathers denotes that we are speaking of more than one 
father : it is a sign of the plural. So -ed in walked denotes 
that the action occurred formerly: it is a sign of the past 
tense. Again, -er in taller denotes the presence of a quality 
in a greater degree than is implied by tall : it is a sign of 
comparison. Again, -ess in authoress denotes that the person 
to whom the name is applied is a female: it is a sign of gender. 
All these modifications of form, — s, ed, er, ess, — are 
inflexions. Sometimes we have inflexion without the 
addition of anything to the word at all. Man makes 
its plural men, goose makes geese, drink makes its past tense 
drank, fall makes fell, by inflexion. There is change of 
form though nothing has been added. Now applying the 
possibility of inflexion as a principle of division to the 
parts of speech, we shall find that the two groups are 
composed thus : 





Inflexional. 


Non- Inflcx ional. 


I. 


Nouns 


5. Prepositions 


2. 


Adjectives 


6. Conjunctions 


3- 


Pronouns 


7. Interjections. 


4- 


Verbs 





Of adverbs, some are inflected to mark comparison and 
others are not. The same remark is true to a smaller 
extent of adjectives, but our classification is in the main 
correct. 

69. The English language has but few in- 
flexions. A Roman could say lapidi, lapide : we have to 
use prepositions and say to a stone, by a stone. A Roman 
could say amavisset, amarentur : we must employ pronouns 
w. e. g. 5 



66 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

and auxiliary verbs, and say he would have loved, they would 
be loved. In Old English there was a fair supply of in- 
flexions, but these were in great measure destroyed by the 
fusion of Norman and Englishman. The Norman conqueror 
had to learn our vocabulary, but use our grammatical 
forms he would not We pointed out in an earlier chapter 
that, though our English vocabulary contains twice as many 
Latin words as native words, we use four or five of the 
latter for one of the former in our everyday speech, since 
the words which necessarily occur in every sentence, such as 
pronouns, conjunctions, and auxiliary verbs, are exclusively 
of English origin. And we said that we were justified 
therefore in describing our language as an English and 
not as a Romance language. We now see that there is a 
further justification for so describing it in the fact that 
nearly all of the surviving inflexions, which constitute an 
important part of the grammar of our language, are of 
English origin. 

A language like ours which has but few inflexions is 
sometimes called analytic. A language like Latin which 
has many inflexions is called synthetic. The distinction 
is an important one, but the terms inflexional and non- 
inflexional would express it equally well and convey the 
proper meaning to our minds at once. 

70. The sum-total of the inflexions which the 
words in a language undergo constitutes its Ac- 
cidence. Accidence is thus narrower in its meaning than 
Etymology. Accidence, (from Latin accidere, 'to happen'), 
comprises the changes of form which happen to words. 
Etymology deals with these changes of form and also 
with the classification and derivation of words. Eng- 
lish grammar has but little accidence, because its inflexions 
are few, but there is much to be said on the subject of 
its etymology. 



ETYMOLOGY. 67 

The sum-total of the inflexions marking num- 
ber and case of a noun or pronoun is called its 
Declension. 

The sum-total of the inflexions of a verb is 
called its Conjugation. 

71. Before leaving the subject of inflexion, let us 
note the principal consequences of the loss of our 
inflexions in English. 

(1) We employ prepositions in place of case- 
endings, and auxiliaries instead of inflexions in verbs. 

(2) The order of words in a sentence admits of very 
little variety in modern English. Brutus occidit Caesarem 
could be arranged in six ways : Brutus killed Caesar can be 
arranged in only one. Why? Because to a Roman the 
form of the ending would show that Brutus was the subject 
and Caesarem the object, whether either word stood first, 
second, or third, in the sentence. Thus for purposes of 
emphasis a Roman was able to vary the order of his words. 
With us the place of subject and object is fixed. 

(3) There is nothing in the form of our words 
to show whether they are one part of speech rather 
than another. Hence one part of speech is often used 
for another. We can turn a noun into an adjective and talk 
of an * iron bar/ or into a verb and say l Iron the clothes.' 
We can make adjectives into nouns and speak of our equals, 
or betters, or inferiors. We can manufacture adverbs out of 
other parts of speech and say ' Crack went the whip/ ' I am 
going home,' l He came safe, 7 ' He is not a bit surprised.' 
We also find such expressions as ' But me no buts 7 < 'Uncle 
me no uncle 7 signifying ' Don't say but to me/ i Don't call 
me uncle. 1 The sense indeed is plain, but such forms would 
be impossible in a synthetic or inflexional language like 
Latin. 



5— 2 



68 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 
Questions. 

i. What is the Part of Speech of each of the italicised words in the 
following sentences ? — ' Count the money. ' — * Keep count as you go.' — 
'Foreign coins will not count.' — 'Count is a foreign title.' — 'It is 
slovenly not to date your letters. ' — ' Bring the statement up to date?- — 
' These distinctions belong to race? — ' They are race distinctions.' — 
1 They are prepared to race? — 'The tender has left the ship.' — ' Confine- 
ment made him tender for the winter.' — ' Infatuation made him tender 
for the contract.' — ' Tender memories linger round the spot? — 'The 
spot stroke is barred.' — 'You will spot your dress.' — 'Woe worth the 
hour.' — * An hour of his time is worth half-a-crown.' — ' His time is of 
little worth? — ■ Mark his fell design.' — ' His design fell to the ground.' 
* Tramp o'er moss and fell? — ' He tramped o'er moss and fell? — 'Strike 
a light? — 'He has a light heart' — 'The bonfires are alight here.' — 
' Alight here for the Aquarium.' — 'Boots repaired while you wait.' — 
'I have waited a long while? — 'How can I while away the time?' — 
1 Look at the above remarks.' — ' Look at the remarks above? — ' Look at 
the remarks above the notice.' — ' I am an outside passenger.' — ' I prefer 
the outside? — 'I prefer to ride outside? — 'The train came down the 
incline.' — ' It was the down train.' — 'It came down at a great pace.' — 
' Clear the deck, get the deck cabin ready, and deck the walls with 
flags.' — 'I walked past? — 'I walked past the gate.' — 'Forget the 
past? — ' Forget all the past follies.' — ' The steam tram has not got up 
steam enough to steam up the hill. ' 

i. What parts of speech may each of the following words be? — 
round, close, equal. Write one short sentence to illustrate each use of 
them. 

3. What is an inflexional language? 

What parts of speech may be inflected in English ? Illustrate your 
answer by examples. 

4. Write down in a column all the parts of speech. Underline the 
two which you consider most important, and doubly underline the two 
which you consider least important, giving reasons in each case for 
your opinion. 

5. Form a sentence containing at least six different parts of speech, 
and point out in it one example of each. 

6. Write short sentences illustrating the use of each of the following 
words as different parts of speech : — match, mangle, pile, punch, row. 

7. Write short sentences illustrating the different meanings of each 
of the following words: — own, that, quick, judge. 

8. Write four short sentences, each of which contains the word 
back. In the first sentence, use the word back as a noun ; in the second, 
as a verb; in the third, as an adverb; and in the fourth, as an adjective. 



6 9 



CHAPTER VIIL 
Nouns. 

72. A noun is the name of anything. 

The word noun is derived from the Latin nomen, which 
means 'a name.' No sentence can be formed without a 
noun, or something equivalent to a noun, expressed or 
implied, and a verb, also expressed or implied. ' Birds 
fly/ 'Politicians wrangled/ are examples of the simplest 
form of sentence. Each contains a noun which indicates 
the thing about which the statement is made, and a verb by 
means of which we make the statement. The word verb 
is derived from the Latin verbum, 'a word/ — the word 
without which the sentence would collapse. But to discuss 
whether noun or verb is the more essential to a sentence 
seems as useless as it would be to inquire which of the 
two blades in a pair of scissors does more of the cutting. 
Sometimes, no doubt, it looks as if we could have a sentence 
without a noun or without a verb. When I say 'Go/ the 
sense is clear. But the noun, or rather its substitute the 
pronoun, is understood, and in giving an analysis of the 
sentence we should supply it and say that the subject is You 
and the predicate go. And in older English it was often so 
supplied, and people said 'Go thou/ Again, if I ask 'Who 
told you this ? ' and you answer ' Jones/ the verb is under- 
stood, and the full expression would be 'Jones told me 
this/ or 'Jones did/ Thus these forms of expression are 



7o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

only apparently exceptions to the statement that every 
sentence contains noun and verb. They are ellip- 
tical expressions; a word is omitted which is required to 
complete the grammatical structure of the sentence, but 
though omitted it is understood. 

73. The definition of a noun suggests a few remarks. 

i. Guard against the not uncommon blunder of confusing the noun 
and the thing. The noun is the name of the thing. The paper on 
which this book is printed is a thing, not a noun : the word paper is a 
noun. 

i. Bear in mind that the word * thing* is here used to denote all 
objects of thought, whether these objects of thought be things with life 
or without it, material or immaterial, real or imaginary. In the lan- 
guage of our definition, every object that we can think about, whether 
it have an existence or not, is a thing, and the name of such a thing is a 
noun, Charles, negro, Rome, city, angel, ghost, dragon, point, zero, 
infinity, nothing, are nouns, for they are names of objects of thought, 
i.e. of things about which we can think. 

3. The objection may be raised, — Are not some of the pronouns 
names of things too? If so, why should we place them in a separate 
class? If Brown says 'I broke the window,' is not / the name of the 
thing about which the assertion is made, just as much as Brown or the 
boy is, when we say * Brown broke the window,' or ' The boy broke the 
window'? And in this criticism there is some force. But these pro- 
nouns differ in so important a characteristic from the words which are 
commonly called nouns, that they deserve to rank as a separate part of 
speech, although, as their name implies, they are used instead of nouns. 
For when we say 'The boy broke the window,' the term boy brings up 
to our minds a certain uniform conception; we know what we mean by 
a 'boy.' But if Brown says V broke the window,' and Brown's com- 
panion Smith says '/ jogged his elbow,' and the master says '/ shall 
make you pay for it between you,' /changes its meaning in the mouth 
of each speaker. When Brown and Smith are talking together, Brown 
calls himself /and Smith you, while Smith calls Brown you and himself 
/. But Brown and Smith are always boys, and the master is always a 
master, no matter who it is that uses the words. 

4. This further criticism may be made on the definition, that adjec- 
tives are, at any rate sometimes, names of things; that black is the name 
of all black objects, — horses, ink, marble, etc. — round the name of all 
round objects, — the moon, a cricket-ball, a wheel, a watch-glass, etc., 
so that when I say 4 The moon is round,' round is a name of the moon. 

To this objection the answer may be given that in such cases the 



NOUNS. 7i 

adjective qualifies a noun which is understood. When I say * The 
moon is round,' I mean 'The moon is a round moon' or 'a round 
thing.' Moreover it is only when the adjective is used as a part of the 
predicate that this ellipsis of the noun is possible. As the subject of a 
sentence the adjective cannot stand alone. I cannot say ■ Round rotates 
on its axis,' but must say *A round object rotates on its axis.' In any 
case it is the noun which is the name of the thing: the adjective marks 
merely a quality of the thing. 

74. Different classes of nouns. — Common and 
Proper. 

Compare the words river and Henry. What important 
difference is there between them? Not this, as is some- 
times said, that river can be applied to an indefinite number 
of objects and Henry to only one, for Henry can be applied 
to an indefinite number of objects also : eight Henrys sat 
on the throne of England. The difference lies in the fact 
that, when we use the word river y it has for us a certain 
uniform sense. The word suggests to our minds the 
conception of flowing water, banks, source, outfall, and so 
forth. If we found a piece of water in a park and were 
inclined at first sight to call it a river, but afterwards dis- 
covered that it contained neither inlet nor outlet and that 
we could walk all round it, we should say 'This is not a 
river ; this is a lake.' The word river has a meaning, and 
its meaning does not suit a stagnant sheet of water. But a 
person called ' Henry ' might equally well have been called 
' John,' for the name ' Henry 9 has no meaning. We say 
that the Thames is a ' river/ because it has certain qualities 
which the word river suggests to our minds. But t Henry ' 
is merely a mark, arbitrarily set upon a person to dis- 
tinguish him from other people. Any other mark would 
have done just as well. And for one reason or another 
such marks or names are often changed. Thus, Sir Robert 
Walpole became Earl of Orford. During the greater part 
of his life he was known by the mark Walpole: for the last 
few years he was known by the mark Orford. Walpole 



72 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

and Orford are names without meaning, so if we once 
know to whom they are to be attached as marks, it makes 
no difference which name we choose for the purpose. If 
a football club changes its colours, the team is indicated 
by a new mark. When Walpole became Orford he was 
indicated by a new mark. But if we called a river an 
'elephant' or a 'bedstead/ we should talk nonsense, because 
these words are not merely marks but contain meanings, 
and their meanings in no wise correspond with the qualities 
presented by a river. Once upon a time, no doubt, people's 
names had a meaning and were bestowed upon them 
because people possessed certain qualities. The original 
Redhead may have got his name from the colour of his 
hair, the original Tomson from the circumstance that he 
was the son of Tom. But Redhead's posterity perpetuate 
the name, though they may be black-haired boys or bald- 
headed men, and a Tomson of to-day may have taken the 
name to enable him to receive a legacy, though his name 
was formerly Robinson. This important distinction is ex- 
pressed in grammar by the words Common and Proper. 
A common noun is applied to a number of things because 
they are alike, or possess some quality in common, whereas 
a proper noun, though it may be applied to several objects, 
is not applied to these objects because they are alike or 
possess any quality in common. 

There are some nouns which contain a meaning but 
are applicable to only one thing. Such nouns we call 
Singular. In the mouth of a Christian or of a Jew, the 
name God is a Singular noun, for Christians and Jews 
recognise only one God. Whiteness is a Singular name, for 
although the quality which we call 'whiteness' is found in 
many objects, the quality is one and the same. Several 
nouns present the peculiarity of being sometimes Singular 
and sometimes Common. If I say ' Space is infinite/ 
'Time flies/ the nouns are Singular : if I say ' This space is 



NOUNS. 73 

larger than that/ ' I have seen him several times/ they are 
Common. 

The reader will perceive on reflexion that Proper names 
are really a special class of Singular names. When we 
make use of a Proper name, we apply it to some particular 
individual only. But Singular nouns with a meaning are 
few and hard to find in any language, whilst meaningless 
Singular nouns are many, and they meet us at every turn. 
Hence it is that, in a classification of Nouns for the purposes 
of Grammar, we usually distinguish between Common and 
Proper nouns, and not between Common and Singular 
nouns, of which latter kind Proper nouns are a sub-class. 

We may define these three classes of nouns thus : 

A Common Noun is one which can be applied 
to an indefinite number of things in the same 
sense. 

A Singular Noun is one which cannot be ap- 
plied to more than one thing in the same sense. 

A Proper Noun is a singular name assigned 
to an individual as a mere distinguishing mark. 

75. We may notice that (i) Proper Nouns are some- 
times used as Common Nouns, and (2) Common 
nouns are sometimes used as Singular nouns, that 
is, as names possessing a meaning, but applicable to ovAy 
one individual, 

(1) Proper nouns become common in two ways : 
(a) When they indicate a class resembling the 
individual denoted by the proper name. ' A village 
Hampden' means a village patriot: of an ill-tempered 
woman we may say * She is a regular Xanthippe : ' we may- 
speak of promising young cricketers as i youthful Graces.' 
When parsing words thus employed, describe them as 
proper nouns used as if common. Note however that when 



74 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

we speak of 'the Browns' or 'the Smiths,' meaning all 
the people called 'Brown' or 'Smith/ without implying 
that they have any common quality besides the possession 
of the same name, these words, though plural, are still 
proper. But if we mean by ' the Marlboroughs and Wel- 
lingtons ' not the people called Marlborough and Wellington, 
but great soldiers like Marlborough and Wellington, the 
proper nouns have passed into common nouns. 

(b) Proper nouns become common also when 
things are named after the persons or places which 
bear these names. Atlas, boycott, macadam, phaeton, 
brougham, come from names of persons; cypress, guinea, 
worsted, landau, from names of places l . 

(2) On the other hand a Common noun may be 
used with such qualifying epithets as to become Singular. 
'The last of the Tudors,' 'the present Lord Chancellor,' 
'the highest mountain of Europe,' are compound names 
which can be used correctly of only one object. And even 
without the qualifying words we sometimes interpret the 
meaning of common nouns in a restricted sense. A child 
who says ' Father told me to do this,' narrows the meaning 
of ' father ' and uses the noun as if it were a singular noun. 
Similarly, by 'the Queen' we signify Victoria, by 'the 
Prince,' the Prince of Wales. These words are like Proper 
nouns in this respect, that they can be applied to only one 
individual in the same sense : they are unlike them in this 
respect, that they have a meaning, while Victoria and Albert 
Edward have none. 

76. Names of Materials. Nouns denoting certain 
materials, e.g. mud, zinc, gold, rice, arsenic, are never found 

1 Interesting lists of words derived from names of persons and places 
are given in Meiklejohn's English Language, pp. 138 — 144, and in 
Hewitt's Manual of Our Mother Tongue, pp. 347 — $tf. 



NOUNS. 75 

in the plural : others of precisely similar character occur in 
the plural, but always in some special sense. Men means 
more than one man, but tins does not mean more than 
a certain quantity of tin, nor sugars more than a certain 
quantity of sugar, Tins means cases made of tin ; coppers 
means coins made of copper ; irons, fetters made of iron ; 
slates, tiles made of slate ; sugars, teas, calicoes, wines, mean 
different sorts or varieties of these commodities, and in 
these plural forms the nouns are common nouns. 

77. A Collective Noun is one which denotes 
a number of things regarded as forming a whole. 
Such nouns as mob, regiment, flock, congregation, are col- 
lective. Both plurals and collectives denote a number of 
things : boys, cricketers, soldiers, sailors, are plurals. But 
collectives denote a number of things taken in the 
aggregate and viewed as forming a single group; school, 
team, army, crew, are collectives. Collective nouns are 
mostly common : there are several schools, tea?ns, armies, 
crews. Sometimes however we use them in a restricted 
sense as applicable to only one object. Thus, if I say 
'The Queen opened Parliament/ the common collective 
noun parliament has its application narrowed down to one 
assembly, just as the common noun queen has its application 
narrowed down to one person. 

Collective nouns are also called Nouns of Multi- 
tude, and in using them we sometimes think of the in- 
dividuals included in the group rather than of the group 
as a whole. Hence these nouns are found with either 
singular or plural predicates. We may say 'Parliament 
was unanimous/ if the thought uppermost in our minds is 
the assembly as a whole, but we may say ' Parliament were 
all sixes and sevens/ if we are thinking of the assembly as 
divided into different parties. 



76 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

78. Abstract and Concrete Nouns. 

Consider the qualities of the boy sitting opposite. You 
say he is handsome or plain, clever or stupid, industrious or 
lazy, thin or fat, tall or short, and so on. To these qualities 
we give names and speak of the handsomeness or plainness, 
cleverness or stupidity, etc., of the boy. Not that the quali- 
ties can actually exist apart from the boy, or from some 
other subject which possesses them. We cannot separate 
the boy's stupidity or fatness and say 'There is the boy, 
and here I have got his stupidity.' But though the quali- 
ties have no separate and independent existence, 
we can consider them separately. We can abstract 
our thoughts from the boy's other qualities and can think 
and speak of his stupidity ; and then, abstracting our atten- 
tion from the other points of interest which he presents, we 
can think and speak of his fatness. The names of the 
qualities which we isolate from the rest by this process of 
abstraction are called Abstract Nouns: the names of 
the things which possess the qualities are called Concrete 
Nouns. 

A Concrete Noun is the name of a thing re- 
garded as possessing attributes. 

An Abstract Noun is the name of an attribute 
or quality of a thing. 

For many qualities or attributes no abstract names exist. 
If a boy is brown-haired or first man out of the eleven, he 
has the qualities of brown-hairedness and of first-man-out- 
of-the-elevenness ; but when there is seldom occasion to 
speak of qualities, such qualities have not received names, 
especially if the names would be long and awkward. We 
can speak of squareness and redness ; not of oblongness and 
vermilionness. 

79. Many nouns are abstract in one sense 
and concrete in another. When we say * His industry 



NOUNS. 77 

is remarkable/ the word industry is abstract; it denotes a 
quality or attribute. But when we say * The cotton industry 
is carried on in the north/ industry is concrete. We can 
use it in this latter sense in the plural and speak of 'the 
cotton and iron industries. , Now an abstract noun while 
it remains abstract cannot be used in the plural. It seems, 
no doubt, as if it could be so used sometimes. Thus the 
Prayer-Book has the expression ' negligences and ignor- 
ances. 1 But these plurals signify acts or instances of 
negligence and ignorance, and the words have become con- 
crete. If we say ' Beauty is a perishable gift/ beauty is an 
abstract noun ; if we say ' The baby is a little beauty/ it is 
concrete. Length is abstract when we speak of 'the length 
of the course ; ' it is concrete when we say that ' Oxford 
won by two lengths.' 

80. Modes of formation of Abstract Nouns. 

{a) Most abstract nouns are formed from adjectives by 
adding -ness, as goodness from good: some are formed by 
adding -th, as truth, sloth, from true, slow : these forms are 
of English origin. Latin abstract terminations are seen in 
-ty or -ity, as hones^, stupid//^, and in -ce, as Justin, tem- 
peranr^. 

(b) Some are formed from verbs by adding -ion, as 
possess**?/?, instruct/^. 

(c) Some from nouns, as priest^^^, bondage, serfdom, 
friendship, hatred, slavery. 



Questions. 

ie Take these names and say of each whether it is Proper, Singular, 
Common, Collective, Abstract, Concrete : — island, Somerset House, hope, 
a Nero, fleet, the last Chancellor of the Exchequer, truth, universe, chloro- 
form, friendship, nobility. Give the reason for your answer in each 
case. 



78 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1. State what nouns we get from the following names {a) of persons : 
— Augustus Caesar, Captain Boycott, Epicurus, Dr Guillotin, James II. 
(Lat. Jacobus), Colonel Negus, Philip of Macedon, Simon Magus, 
Duns Scotus : {b) of places : — Bayonne, Calicut, Canterbury, Damascus, 
Milan, Spain. 

3. The following nouns are names of materials, but they can be 
used in the plural. When so used, what meanings do they bear? — 
paper, tea, stone, wood, sand, salt. 

4. What is a noun? Is the paper on which you are writing a 
noun? Shew that the second part of your answer is consistent with 
your definition. 

5. Give examples of collective nouns and of names of materials. 
When are collective nouns treated as singular, and when as plural? 
Do names of materials ever admit of a plural? 

6. What Collective Nouns denote groups composed of the following 
individuals? — oxen, books, birds, bees, thieves, cut flowers, musicians, 
singers in a church, cricketers, hunting- dogs, legislators. 

7. Define an Abstract Noun, and give the derivation of the term 
abstract. Form an Abstract Noun from (1) an Adjective, (2) a Verb, 
(3) a Common Noun. 

8. Write sentences in which the following Nouns are used re- 
spectively as Concrete and Abstract: — age, youth, fiction, poetry, 
painting, belief, scholarship, royalty. 

9. State whether the italicised Nouns are used as Abstract or as 
Concrete in the following sentences: — 'He contributed liberally to 
many a charity.' — '■Charity begins at home.' — 'Necessity is the mother 
of invention? — * Men's necessities have led to many inventions.' — 'The 

form of this goblet makes it a great curiosity.' — ' Curiosity is one of the 
forms of feminine bravery.' — 'Life is a time of trial.' — •' For some time 
before his trial he underwent great hardship in prison.' — ' They suffered 
many trials and hardships in their lives.' — 'Hasty resolutions seldom 
speed well.' — ■ The native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the 
pale cast of thought.' — ' Fancy scatters thoughts that breathe and words 
that burn.' — ' Thought is free.' — 'Towards government by the wisest 
does bewildered Europe now struggle.'—' Before parliament met, the 
government had resigned. ' — ' The nobility in some countries form an 
exclusive society.' — 'The test of a man's nobility is the small pleasure he 
has in others' society.' — ' As reason is a rebel unto faith, so is passion 
unto reason.' — 4 There is no reason why you should fly into such a 
passion.' 



NOUNS. 79 

10. Assign each of the nouns in italics in the following sentences 
to its proper class. Give reasons for your answers. 

(a) The Terror sailed yesterday. 

(b) The nobility opposed the Crown. 

(c) At the noise of the thunder she lost corn-age. 

n. Give instances of the conversion (a) of Abstract into Concrete 
Nouns, (b) of Proper into Common. 

12. Substitute for the names in italics equivalent Common Nouns: — 
'Some Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood,' — 'a Paul in faith,' — 
*a second Hercules? — 'a new Timon? — *a fat Adonis? — 'a financial 
Napoleon? — 'a Nimrod of to-day,' — 'a modern Sappho?* — *a Daniel 
come to judgment.' 

13. Mention the Abstract Nouns connected with the following — 

(a) Adjectives : — high, weary, decent, cruel, just, true y gentle, plural, 
brave, honest, sublime, wise; 

(b) Verbs: — enchant, forbear, abstain, steal, wed, gird \ grow, know, 
depart ; 

(c) Nouns :— child, glutton, hate, horseman^ hero. 



So 



CHAPTER IX. 
Inflexion of Nouns. — I. Gender, 

81. Nouns are inflected, that is to say, they undergo 
a change of form, to indicate Gender, Number, and 
Case. In English however these distinctions are often 
made without any inflexion. 

82. Sex is a natural distinction which we find 
existing in the sentient creatures around us; they are 
male or female. Gender is a grammatical distinction 
which we make in words, corresponding, in English, to 
the natural distinction in the sentient creatures. Words 
are masculine or feminine according as the objects to 
which they are applied are male or female. The names 
of the things around us which are without sex, — and such 
names form by far the largest portion of the nouns in our 
vocabulary, — are said to be of neuter gender, i.e. of neither 
masculine nor feminine gender. Some nouns are used to 
denote objects of either sex, such as parent, sovereign 
painter, attendant. These nouns are said to be of common 
gender. 

83. Comparing gender in English with gender as we 
see it in Latin or German, we note these points of 
difference. 

i. In English, gender corresponds with sex. 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— I GENDER. 81 

Males are denoted by masculine nouns, females by feminine 
nouns, inanimate things by neuter nouns. In Latin or 
German, inanimate things are often denoted by masculine 
or feminine nouns. Mons the Latin for 'mountain' is 
masculine ; res, ' a thing/ is feminine ; animal, ' an animal,' 
is neuter. In German Loffel, 'a spoon,' is masculine; 
Gabel, ' a fork/ is feminine; Messer y i z. knife,' is neuter. 
French has no neuter ; consequently all its nouns are of the 
masculine or of the feminine gender. Our method in 
Modern English is simpler and more rational. 

To a very limited extent the correspondence of gender with sex in 
English is interfered with (i) by Personification, a figure of speech 
under which we refer to inanimate objects as if they were endowed with 
life and sex. Things associated with the idea of strength or destructive- 
ness are treated as males, and their names are masculine: e.g. death, 
time, fear, war. Things associated with the idea of grace, or of fertility, 
are personified as females, and their names are feminine : e.g. moon, 
mercy, nature, earth. But very often we do not personify these objects 
at all : we use he or she to refer to them when we become melodramatic 
or rhetorical, but in our ordinary moments we employ the neuter pro- 
noun it. Nor could it be considered a breach of grammatical propriety, 
if we speke of a ship as it. 

Again (2) we often disregard the sex when we are speaking of chil- 
dren and the lower animals, and use the pronoun it. So the distinction 
of masculine and feminine is of very narrow application in English. 

2. Another point of contrast between English and 
Latin or German is this. These languages possess inflex- 
ions marking gender in the adjectives: our adjectives 
have no inflexions of gender, number, or case. We say 
good man, good woman, good thing. Hence for a foreigner 
learning English there are only two points requiring atten- 
tion in reference to gender ; one, to use the feminine form 
of a noun, where one exists, to denote a female ; the other, 
to use he, she, it, his, her, its, correctly, according as the 
reference of these pronouns or adjectives is to a male, a 
female, or an inanimate object. 

84. Gender is the form of a noun or pronoun 

W. E. G. 6 



82 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

corresponding in English to the sex of the thing 
named. 

We have in English three ways of making a distinc- 
tion in language corresponding to the difference of sex 
in the objects themselves : 

i. By Inflexion. 

2. By Composition. 

3. By using an entirely different word. 

85. (1) Gender marked by Inflexion, The suf- 
fixes, i.e. the terminations, or endings, of words indicating 
gender may be classified thus : 

• • f -ster, in spinster 
Of English origin I . . 

I ~ en > in v txe n 

-ess, Norman French, countess 

-trix, Latin, testatrix 

-ine, Greek, heroine ; German, land- 
gravine 

-a, Italian or Spanish, signora, in- 
fanta 

86. Remarks on these forms. 

The native English suffixes -ster and -en survive with their feminine 
force only in the words spinster and vixen. Spinster properly signifies 
a female spinner, but now means 'an unmarried woman.' In proper 
names, such as Webster and Brewster (feminines respectively of weaver 
and brewer) the form still exists, as it does in the words tapster, maltster, 
but the signification of the suffix has disappeared. In trickster, young- 
ster, gamester, it is employed with an idea of depreciation or contempt. 
So completely has the original force of the ending been lost "that to the 
feminine forms songster and seamster we have added the inflexion -ess, 
making songstress and seamstress, words which are open to the twofold 
objection that they are (a) double-feminines, (b) hybrids, i.e. they con- 
tain elements borrowed from different languages, the original words 
being of English origin and the suffix -ess coming from the French. 

In vixen two things are to be noticed: (a) the appearance of fox in 
the form vox : to this day a Somersetshire labourer uses v in place of f 
in many words; the Authorised Translation of the Bible preserves for 



Of Foreign origin 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— I. GENDER. 83 

us the word wine-fat, which has now been ousted by the form wine-vat, 
belonging to the Southern dialect of English : (b) the modification of the 
root vowel from to i\ this is due to Umlaut. See p. 5°« 

Foreign endings. — The use of the suffix -ess, borrowed from the 
French -esse, is the only method of formation which is employed when 
we make a new feminine word at the present day : so, authoress, 
doctress. Occupations once reserved to men are now thrown open to 
women. If we wish to mark the female sex of the persons following 
these occupations, we must either use compounds and say lady-doctor, 
lady-lawyer, or manufacture inflected forms and say doctress, lawyeress. 

This French suffix is freely added to nouns of English extraction, 
without any regard being paid to the fact that the resulting forms are 
hybrids : e.g. goddess, shepherdess. 

Frequently, when this ending is attached to a word, there is an 
omission of a vowel or of a syllable: e.g. actress, empress, governess, 
ncgress, sorceress. Abbess ==abbotess. Duehess comes from the French 
duchess e. The feminine of marquis or marquess is marchioness. The 
root of this word occurs in marches, meaning ' boundaries Vor 'confines': 
'Lord of the Marches? In mistress we have the feminine of master with 
the vowel weakened as in the pronunciation of Mr. From mistress we 
get the abbreviated form Miss* 

The remaining suffixes do not exemplify English modes of formation 
of feminine nouns at all. The words which contain them are borrowed 
directly from foreign languages and therefore illustrate no process of 
English grammar. 

87. (2) Gender marked by composition. When 
we make a new word by joining together two or more 
existing words, we call the process composition and 
the resulting word a compound. Thus he-goat, cock- 
sparrow ', maid-servant are compounds : each part of the 
words has a meaning by itself. Compare with these the 
word authoress, formed from author by adding -ess. Now 
-ess has a force only when added to another word ; by itself 
it is without any meaning ; it is a mere suffix, not a word. 
We call such a word as authoress a derivative. 

The distinction marked by these two processes of Inflexion and 
Composition may be said to come under our definition of gender as ' the 
form of a word which corresponds to a difference of sex/ Authoress and 
he-goat are modifications of author and goat, marking a change in their 
meaning. The indication of gender by Inflexion is a genuine gram- 
matical process, but we can bring the compound forms also within the 

6—Z 



84 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

four comers of the definition. The remaining method is not a gram- 
matical process: in such pairs of words as brother, sister; boy, girl; 
bull, cow, the difference of gender is marked, not by a modification 
in the form of one of the words, but by the use of words wholly 
unconnected with each other. 

88. (3) Gender marked by the Use of Different 
Words. As examples of these correlatives, or pairs of 
words not grammatically connected, take the following in 
addition to those given above: — boar, sow; buck, doe; 
bullock or steer, heifer ; colt, filly ; drake, duck ; earl, countess; 
drone, queen-bee ; gaffer, gammer ; gander, goose; hart, roe 
or hind ; monk, nun ; ram, ewe ; sire, dam ; wizard, witch ; 
sloven, slut; bachelor, maid or spinster. 

These words deserve notice : 

Drake was once end-rake ; the end was the significant part, meaning 
duck, as Ente does in German to-day, and the rake was a mere suffix, 
meaning ■ lord ' or 'male.' Thus two-thirds of the important part, the 
root, have been lost, and one-third, a single letter, has been kept, with 
the whole of the masculine ending. It is as if the word actress were 
decapitated and reduced to tress. 

Lord is loaf -ward, * bread -guardian ' : lady contains the same root 
loaf and possibly meant originally ' loaf-kneader.' 

Gaffer is a corruption of * grandfather,' gammer of * grandmother.' 

Sir = sire = senior ; madam = mea domina , ' my lady. ' 

Wizard comes to us from the O. French guiscart, ' a very wise man,' 
not from the English witch, though both words have originally the same 
root. 

Woman — wife + man, not 'wife of man,' but 'wife-person.' 

89. It is evident that in almost all cases the feminine 
is formed from the masculine. In the following 
words this order is reversed: 

Bridegroom^ the masculine of bride, was originally bryd-guma, or 
'bride's-man,' in German brautigam. Guma meant 'a man' in Old 
English. 

Gander comes from the same root as goose, the German for which 
is gans. The d has crept in between the n and the last syllable, as in 
tender and gender (Latin iener, gen-er-is). 

Widower has been formed from widow* 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— I GENDER. 8 S 



Questions. 

i. Give the feminine form or word corresponding to mayor, bull- 
calf ', murderer ; milkman, ogre, peacock, marquis, testator, czar, sultan, 
fox, earl. 

i. Give the masculine form or word corresponding to roe, hind, 
nun, countess, landlady, doe-rabbit, abbess, traitress, ?nargravine, spin- 
ster, bride, lass, 

3. Write the feminine words corresponding to hero, giant, sorcerer^ 
ram, stag, and the masculine words corresponding to duck, heifer, goose, 
empress, executrix. 

4. Give two examples under each of the following heads : — 

(1) Nouns of common gender : 

(2) Nouns in which the termination -ster is without a feminine 
force : 

(3) Nouns in which the masculine has been formed from the 
feminine : 

(4) Feminine Nouns without corresponding masculines, 

[Only a few examples of (4) are to be found ; e.g. brunette, dowager, 
milliner, laundress, shrew, virago. ] 

5. If we personify the objects indicated by the following names, 
which of them should we speak of as she? — Earth, Sun, Moon, Night, 
Death, Love, Nature, Winter, War, Justice, Ti?ne, Liberty. 



86 



CHAPTER X. 
Inflexion of Nouns. — II. Number. 

90. Number is an inflexion which shows 
whether we are speaking of one thing or of more 
than one. 

When we speak of one thing, the form of the noun 
is singular ; when of more than one thing, the form of the 
noun is plural. In Greek there was a dual number with 
separate inflexions, used when two things were spoken of, 
and English once had a dual number in the personal 
pronouns. But the absence of a dual from modern English 
is not a matter for regret. It is enough to distinguish 
between one and more than one; to distinguish between 
one, two, and more than two, is a needless refinement. 

91. The ways of forming plurals in English nouns are 
shown in the following classified scheme, which should be 
learnt by heart : — 

Table of Plural Forms. 

I. Add -s to the singular. 

II. Add -es to the singular of— 

/ 1 . Nouns ending in a sibilant, viz. , s, z, sh, x, ch. 
a. Nouns ending in /"sound, if of English origin and preceded 
by / or by a long vowel ; change f into v. 

3. Nouns ending my preceded by a consonant ; change y into u 

4. Some nouns ending in 0. 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— II. NUMBER. 87 

III. Archaic or Old English fcrms: 

(1. Add -en, ox-en. 

1 2. Add -er, child- (e)r-en. 

[ 3. Change the vowel : men, geese. 

IV. Foreign forms : 

!i. Ancient; seraphim, phenomena , appendices. 
2. Modern; banditti, mesdames. 

92. Remarks on the Table of Plural Forms. 

I. The ordinary mode of forming a plural in modern English is to 
add -s in writing : thus a new word like telephone or cablegram takes s. 
If however a word is borrowed directly from a foreign language, it may 
retain the form of the plural which it had in that foreign language. 
Such a word is then said to be ' imperfectly naturalized ' ; it has not yet 
become an English subject. 

Observe however that though we add s in writing, we often add z in 
pronunciation. We have seen that if a surd s is added to a word 
ending in a sonant, either the inflexion s or the last letter of the noun 
must be altered. Both sounds must be sonant or both must be surd ; 
otherwise it is impossible to pronounce them in the same syllable. 
Thus we write slabs, pods, hogs, but we pronounce these words slabz, 
podz, hogz. To pronounce them slaps, pots, hocks, preserving the true 
sound of the s, would be to obscure the nouns themselves. 

II. This inflexion in s is a survival of the older form of the plural 
in -es. 

1 . The inflexion es as a separate syllable is necessarily retained to 
make the plurals of nouns ending in a sibilant sound. For if we add s 
to words with s, z, sh, x, or ch, for their last letter, such as gas, topaz, 
bush, box, church, the s thus added cannot be pronounced. As we 
have seen, x is an abbreviation of ks, so words ending in x really end in 
s. The ch of which we speak here is the ch of arch, beech, and is 
really a compound of t+sh, so the sibilants enumerated above are 
reducible to three, viz., s, z, sh. The ch found in the Scotch loch 
takes s. 

2. For the formation of plurals of nouns ending in an /sound, it is 
impossible to state concisely a rule which shall cover all instances. 
The rule, as we have stated it, is rather complicated, yet some words 
evade it. The following nouns illustrate the rule : leaf, loaf, calf, wife, 
wolf, self, for these words are of English origin and the vowel is long, 
or, if short, the/ is preceded by /. On the other hand, the long vowel 
sound 00 in roof, hoof, is not followed by -ves: these words take s. 
Staff, though of English origin and with long vowel, has for its plural 



88 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

both staves and staffs. Strife, safe, brief, chief, proof take s conform- 
ably with the rule, as they are not of English origin, but come from the 
French. But beef is exceptional in making beeves, as it is a French 
word. Wharf dwarf scarfs turf are found with plurals in both forms, 
fs and ves. 

3. There is hardly anything in the nature of an exception to the 
rule respecting nouns ending in y. A word like soliloquy, which makes 
its plural in ies, looks as if it were an exception, but it really follows the 
rule, for the combination qu has the force of kw, which is a consonantal 
sound. Perhaps the only established exception is flys, meaning 
'carriages,' and inn-keepers can scarcely be blamed for refraining from 
advertising ''Flies on hire.' Some words in ey are occasionally found 
with their plural in ies, e.g. monies, but it is better to spell them accord- 
ing to the rule. 

4. With regard to nouns in 0, it is difficult to discover any principle 
which determines whether their plurals are in s or in es. Many of our 
words in are of Italian origin, and these take s, as do all nouns in to. 
The nouns in which take es are usually of earlier introduction. Cargo, 
echo, hero, potato, negro, take es : canto, solo, alto, piano, folio, oratorio, 
take s. 

Observation and practice are required to enable us to form the 
plurals of nouns in/ or in correctly. Rules are of little or no use for 
the purpose. Still it is our business in dealing with grammar to search 
out the principles, if such there are, on which the rules are based, 
although the rules when we get them may be insufficient guides. 

III. Old English forms, other than es and s, which survive in 
modern English are few. 

1. Oxen is the only modern English word which presents us with 
the form en simply. Chicken is not a plural form, though it is used as 
such in country districts. Kine is a double plural : cow in Old English 
modified its vowel to form the plural and became cy, as mouse becomes 
mice, and the plural inflexion en was also added. Swine however is not 
the plural of sow. In Old English several neuter nouns of one syllable, 
such as swine, sheep, deer, folk, underwent no change of their singular 
form when they were used in the plural number. 

1. Child-er-en is a double plural, the er being one sign of the plural 
and the en another. No other word preserves for us the inflexion er 
with a plural force. Brethren is a double plural, brother having already 
modified its vowel to mark the plural, before en was added. But the 
-r- in brethren, unlike the r in children, belongs to the original word, 
and is not an inflexion. 

3. There are only six nouns, in addition to the double forms men- 
tioned above, which change their vowel to mark the plural: man, foot, 
tooth, goose, mouse, louse. 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— II. NUMBER. 89 

IV. To those who know Latin and Greek, foreign plural forms 
seldom present any difficulty. People who have learnt no Latin some- 
times make the plurals of neuter nouns wrong and talk of animalcules 
or tffltivite instead of saying animal cula and effluvia. Most of these 
nouns from dead languages can now be used with English plural forms : 
we can say formulas, memorandums, dogmas, as well as formula, 
memoranda, dogmata. Cherubim and seraphim are Hebrew plurals, but 
it is only in the language of religion that we use these forms. We speak 
of babies as 'plump little cherubs,' not 'plump little cherubim,' and 
say of a chorus of girls that they sing ' like seraphs,' not 'like seraphim.' 
The forms cherubims, seraphims, are double-plurals. 

93. The following paragraphs contain illustrations of 
various kinds of anomaly in the number of nouns. 
Anomaly means ' unevenness,' or * irregularity.' 

(1) Some nouns are used in the Plural without 
change of form. 

The following are examples: deer, sheep, grouse, the names of several 
sorts of fish, — salmon, trout, cod: also yoke ('five yoke of oxen'), brace, 
hundredweight, 

(2) Nouns which seem Plural but are really Sin- 
gular. 

In the following words, the s is not a sign of the plural but is a part 
of the original word. 

Alms: in O. E. celmesse, borrowed through the Latin from the 
Greek root which we preserve in the word * ^/ee//?ojynary. ' 

Eaves : in O. E. efese. 

Riches: we took our noun from the French richesse, though we had 
the adjective rich in English. 

Owing to a mistaken notion respecting the s in these words, they 
are treated as plurals : ' If riches increase, set not your heart upon the?n. i 

(3) Some nouns Plural in form are sometimes 
treated as Singulars. 

News always takes a singular verb and a singular demonstrative 
adjective: 'This news is not true,' not 'These news are not true.' 
Yet news is the plural of new just as much as bona, 'goods,' is the 
plural of bonum, 'good,' in Latin. Small-pox is a plural in disguise, 
for pox is really pocks : we have the singular in chicken-pock. Yet we 
never use a plural verb with small-pox. 

Tidings, means, amends, pains, odds, wages, are treated sometimes as 
singular, sometimes as plural. To decide whether we are acting more 



90 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

in accordance with usage if we regard them as singular or as plural, we 
should place a verb after them and also observe whether they are more 
appropriately qualified by this or these, much or many. Does it sound 
more natural to say 'This odds is too great,' or * These odds are too 
great'? to say 'Much pains has been taken,' or 'Many pains have been 
taken ' ? The usage of different people may vary. 

Mathematics, physics, statics, and several similar words are plural 
forms taken from Greek adjectives. A century ago they were followed 
by a verb in the plural, and politics continues to take a verb in the 
plural. But, with the exception of the word politics, these nouns are 
now used as singular words. 

(4) Some nouns change their meaning in the 
Plural. 

Domino means 'a mask,' dominoes 'a game': vapour means 'steam,' 
vapours 'ill-humour': compass 'a mariner's compass,' compasses 'instru- 
ments for measuring': vesper 'evening,' vespers 'evening service': good 
means ' anything good,' goods means ' chattels.' 

(5) A few nouns have two forms of the Plural 
with different meanings, the ordinary form being 
plural and the anomalous form having a collective force. 

Pennies means separate coins, pence is collective : ' Can you give me 
six pennies for this sixpence?' Brother has the collective plural 
brethren, meaning members of the same community. Die, 4 a stamp,' 
makes a plural dies, 'stamps,' and a collective dice, 'cubes' used in 
gambling. Cloth makes cloths, signifying different kinds or different 
pieces of cloth, and also clothes, the collection of one's garments. Fish 
has for its plural fishes'. 'The multitude were fed with a few fishes'; but 
for its collective j£ sh : 'He brought home a large basket of fish.' The 
word pea has lost the s in the singular by mistake : in the French pois 
it is still visible. But in its reduced form it has a plural peas, ' This pod 
contains six peas,' and a collective pease, as in 'pease -pudding.' 

Index and genius have different plural forms, neither of which is 
however collective. Indexes means 'more than one table of contents'; 
geniuses 'more than one person of genius.' But indices means certain 
'algebraical signs,' and genii ' Eastern spirits.' 

(6) Some nouns have no Plural. 

This is because their meaning excludes the idea of plurality. We 
saw that abstract nouns, while they remain abstract, cannot be used in 
the plural. Many of these nouns do occur in the plural, but they have 
then ceased to be abstract and have become concrete general names. 
Observation alone will show us which nouns are used in this double way 



* INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— II NUMBER. 91 

and which are not. Hope, hardships joy, colour, are abstract nouns 
which we use as concretes when we speak of hopes, hardships, joys, 
colours. On the other hand, manhood, indolence, goodness, freedom, are 
always abstract and singular. 

We noticed also that though the names of many substances or 
materials are used in the plural number, signifying different kinds or 
different portions of the material, there are some names of this descrip- 
tion which custom forbids us to use in this way. Granite, gold, potash, 
bread, hemp, are never plural. The names of some diseases also are 
always singular, e.g. gout, consumption, rheumatism. 

(7) Some nouns have no Singular. 

These nouns denote things composed of separate parts, and the com- 
plex character of the object makes the plural form appropriate. E.g. 
scissors, tweezers, trousers, entrails. 

(8) Plural of Compound nouns. 

i. When the combination of parts is so complete that we regard the 
compound as a single word, the sign of the plural is added at the end of 
the compound, although the last part of the word may be an adjective. 
Thus we say spoonfuls when the words form a compound, but spoons full 
when they are taken separately. 

ii. But when the fact of composition is brought prominently before 
us by hyphens, as in brother-in-law, man-of-war, maid-of honour, 
groom-of-the-chambers, the principal noun and not the qualifying ad- 
junct usually takes the inflexion. Our practice however in this matter is 
by no means uniform. In spite of the hyphen in attorney -general, 
we speak of two attorney -generals, not attorneys-general, though these 
officials are not generals but attorneys. Again, lady superintendent 
becomes lady superintendents, not ladies superintendent, though the 
words are unconnected even by a hyphen. Notice that the 9 s of the 
possessive case is added at the end of the compound word. Thus we 
should say ' I have three brothers-in-law, and I am staying at my eldest 
brother-in-law's house.' 

iii. In a very few instances, both parts of the compound take the 
sign of the plural : men-servants, lords-justices, knights -templars. We 
may regard this as apposition. 

iv. In a few instances, in which the noun comes before the adjec- 
tive, only the noun takes the sign of the plural : courts-martial, knights- 
errant. 

v. Nouns compounded with man form their plural in men, with 
the exception of Norman. Notice however that several proper nouns 
with this ending are not compounds of man at all, and their plurals are 
therefore formed in s. German probably comes from a Keltic word 
which signifies 'one who shouts.' Brahman, Ottoman, Turcoman, 
Mussulman, are unconnected with man. 



92 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. % 

(9) How shall we form the Plural of (a) Miss Brown, 
and of (b) Mr Smith ? 

(a) We may say (1) The Miss Browns, or (2) The Misses Brown, 
or conceivably, though as a fact we never do say so, (3) The Misses 
Browns. The usual form is the first, 'The Miss Browns 7 , in which we 
must regard Miss-Brown as a complete compound, like spoonful, which 
takes the sign of the plural at the end. The second form, 'The Misses 
Brown ', corresponds in its type to courts-martial, Miss being regarded 
as the noun, and Brown dwindling away to an adjective in its force. In 
the third form, * The Misses Browns ', we have a mode of expression 
analogous to lords-justices, the two nouns being in apposition and each 
of them taking the inflection. 

(b) Similarly we may say in practice either 'The Mr Smiths,' or 
'The Messrs (Messieurs) Smith.' The grammatical justification of these 
alternative forms the reader can supply for himself. 



Questions. 

1. Write the plurals of German, Dutchman, Norman, story, storey, 
octavo, roof, reef, cuckoo, buffalo, formula, radius, crocus, datum, axis, 
appendix, genus, series, virtuoso, criterion, madam, dilettante. 

2. Write the plurals of fay, journey, difficulty, colloquy, chief, staff, 
quarto, die, cloth, half son-in-law, Miss Williams. 

3. Write the plurals of butterfly, shelf f wharf, ox, man-of-war, 
oasis, index, simile, automaton, stratum, focus, caucus, terminus, cargo, 
portmanteau. 

4. Show how the addition of the plural sign -s entirely alters the 
meaning of some English nouns. 

5. Greek adjectives supply us with the forms logic, dynamic, optic, 
?netaphysic, rhetoric, physic, politic. To which of these is an s added to 
make the name of a science ? 

6. Write the plurals of strife, topaz, solo, echo, Mary, fife, bureau, 
elk, species, ellipsis, rhinoceros, hippopotamus. 

Mention some nouns about whose plural- forms there is variety of 
usage, and some which have been taken for plurals though really 
singulars. 

7. The following nouns have two meanings in the plural but only 
one in the singular. Give their plural meanings: — citstom, spectacle, 
manner, effect. 

8. The following nouns vary in meaning according as they art- 
singular or plural. What meaning has each of them in the plural? 
salt, force, iron, content, draught, beef. 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— II NUMBER. 93 

9. With each of the following nouns should a verb be used in the 
singular or the plural number? — alms, banns, optics, poultry, scissors, 
salmon, sheep, sixpence, thanks. 

Give a reason for your answer when you can. 

10. Mention three English nouns which have two plural forms, the 
one with a collective, the other with a distributive force, 

11. Are the verbs right in these sentences? 

The innings was finished at six o'clock— A gallows has been erected 
inside the prison — The tidings are false — The barracks has been burnt 
down — The odds is 7 to 1 — The alms is distributed on Sunday — A 
summons has been issued. 

12. Are the following words strictly of the singular or of the plural 
number? — eaves, tidings, alms, news, riches, means. 

Mention some nouns which have only a singular form, and some 
which have only a plural form. 

13. In what number would you put the verb which is to agree with 
news, ethics, summons, the odds, gentry, fish, firearms, tongs? 

14. Give examples of nouns which have (1) a plural inflexion 
without a plural sense, (2) a plural sense without a plural inflexion. 

15. State and illustrate the rules for the formation of the plural of 
compound nouns. 

16. Form the plural of pailful, forget-me-not, spendthrift, lord- 
lieutenant, runaway ', poet- laureate, hanger-on, maid-in-waiiing, will-o'- 
the-wisp, four-in-hand, valet-de-chambre, envoy extraordinary, minister 
plenipotentiary. 

17. Write the plurals of the following compound nouns: — man- 
servant, maid-servant, man-of -all-work, passer-by, looker-on, onlooker, 
castaway, prince-consort, lord justice, camel-driver. 

18. Is there anything wrong in speaking of *a curious phenomena/ 
'two octopi,' or in saying ' A rich strata of gold has been struck ' 1 



94 



CHAPTER XI 

Inflexion of Nouns. — III. Case. 

94. If we examine the following sentences, we shall 
see that they contain various assertions about a thing called 
a town, which stands in different relations to other things 
called enemies, walls, or circumstances. i The town admitted 
the enemy. 1 i The enemy took the town 1 'The walls of the 
town were destroyed. ' 'This circumstance was beneficial 
to the town 1 ' The enemy were driven away from the town 1 
Thus, in the first sentence we say that the town did some- 
thing to the enemy, — not, of course, the word town to the 
word enemy \ what occurred was done by a thing to a thing, 
not by a word to a word. In the second, we say that the 
town occupied a different relation towards the enemy, and 
the enemy did something to the town. Now, when we 
employ language to record these events, — when we make 
assertions about these things, — we use nouns to name 
the things and verbs to make our statements, and we 
may then say that just as the things stand in different 
relations to other things and to acts, so our nouns 
stand in different relations to other nouns and to 
verbs. There is an indefinite number of these relations, 
expressed in English for the most part by prepositions. 
We can say in the town, through the town, across, down, 
up, over, under, round the town, and so on, marking in every 
instance some fresh relation. 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— Ill CASE. 95 

Next let us write these sentences in Latin and notice the 
different method by which that language represents these 
various relations. Urbs admisit hostes. Hostes ceperunt 
urbem. Moenia urbh diruta sunt. Haec res urbi utilis erat 
Hostes urbe sunt expulsi. Here we find the relations ex- 
pressed by inflexions, whereas in English they were 
expressed by prepositions, or by the position of the 
nouns in the sentence. When we said that the town did 
something to the enemy, we put the word town before the 
verb and the word enemy after it, and we reversed their 
places when we said that the enemy did something to 
the town. But a Roman was not tied down as we are 
to a fixed order of subject and object in his sentence : 
urbs would show itself as subject and urbem as object, what- 
ever place they might occupy. Again, urbis, urbi, urbe, 
inflected forms of urbs, express the relations of urbs to the 
other words in the sentence, whilst the prepositions of, to, 
from, express the same relations of town. 

If the student has obtained some notion of the meaning 
of the word relation (which is one of the vaguest words in 
the language), he will find but little difficulty in what remains 
to be said on the subject of case. 

95. Case is the form of a noun, or pronoun, 
which shows its relation to other words in the 
sentence. 

As we have said above, the relations in which a noun 
can stand are very many, but we do not call the expression 
of these relations by means of prepositions cases : if we 
did, we should have as many cases as we have prepositions. 
It is only when the relation is marked by the form of the 
noun that we can properly speak of case. Urbis, urbem, 
urbe, are cases in Latin : town, town's, are cases in English : 
but of a town, to a town, from a town, are no more cases than, 
ad urbem, ex urbe, contra urbem, are cases. 



96 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

96. How many cases have we then in English 
nouns and pronouns? 

In answer to this question, let us write out the declension 
of town and he. 

Sing. Plnr. Sing. Plur. 

Nam. town towns he they 

Poss. town's towns' his their 

Obj. town towns him them 

It is clear that the pronoun he is better off than the 
noun in its supply of case- inflexions. He, his, him, are 
three genuine cases, just as much as urbs, urbis, urbem, are 
genuine cases. But it is otherwise with the noun. Town, 
nominative, is indistinguishable in form from town, objec- 
tive. The form of the word town does not show its rela- 
tion to the rest of the sentence : the position of the word, 
or its context, shows its relation. We must not how- 
ever interpret our definition too rigorously. If we found 
ourselves without the means of drawing the fundamental 
distinction between subject and object, because of the 
absence of an inflexion, parsing and analysis would be 
reduced to absurdity. The fact is, the definition suits an 
inflexional language like Latin much better than it suits 
a non-inflexional language like English. Even in Latin 
there are many nouns in which the strict application of the 
definition would land us in confusion. Neuter nouns of the 
Fourth Declension, like cornu, have an inflexion only in the 
genitive of the singular number, cornus: all the other singular 
forms are the same as the nominative. Yet we speak of the 
accusative, dative, and ablative cases of cornu, and- in like 
manner we speak of the nominative and objective 
cases of English nouns, though there is but one form 
to express two relations. 

97. The Nominative case is the form of a noun 
when it stands as subject of a verb. 

' Hie town admitted the enemy ; ' * The town was taken.' 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— Ill CASE. 97 

In each of these sentences the subject is town, though in 
the first sentence town represents the doer of the action, 
in the second, it stands for the thing to which the action is 
done. 

When the noun represents a thing spoken to, we may 
call its case the Vocative, or the Nominative of 
Address. < Waiter!' ■ Come here, John ! ' 'O death! O 
grave ! ' are examples. 

The Objective case is the form of a noun when it 
stands as object of a verb, or follows a preposition. 
' The enemy took the town : ' * The enemy are in the town,* 
Town is said to be in the objective case, in the former 
sentence because it represents the object which the enemy 
took, in the latter because it comes after the preposition 
in. 

Some verbs take two objects : ' Give me the book:' 
1 He told us a story : ' * She taught him music : ' * Get them a 
cab.' In these sentences, me -to me, us = to us, him = to 
him, them —for them. These words me, us, him, them, are 
called Indirect Objects; book, story, music, cab, are called 
Direct Objects. Formerly a dative case with distinct in- 
flexions was used in English to express Indirect Objects, 
but through the loss of these distinct inflexions the dative 
and the accusative case assumed the same form in nouns, 
while in the pronouns the dative forms whom, him, them, took 
the place of the accusatives. We cannot understand the 
impersonal verbs methought, meseems, unless we remember 
that the me in these words is a survival of a true dative case. 

The Possessive Case is the form of a noun when 
it stands for a thing to which something else belongs 
or with which it is connected. 

The King's crown: the Kings execution. The noun 
King assumes the form Kings because it stands for a thing 
(e.g. Charles I. or Louis XVI.) to which a crown belongs, or 
with which an execution is connected. 

W. E. G. 7 



98 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

This relation may be expressed by the inflexion 's or by 
the preposition of. We may say the Kings crown, the 
King's execution, or the crown of the King, the execution of the 
King. The form King's is a possessive case : the expres- 
sion of the King is no case at all, any more than to, from, by, 
with, in, round the King are cases. 

The apostrophe before the s is no part of the 
inflexion or case :■ it is merely an orthographical 
device to show that a letter, e, has been thrown out, or 
turned away. {Apostrophe means ' a turning away/) In 
Wednesday the e is still present : Wednesday = Wodin's day. 

98. For?nation of the Possessive case. — To form the possessive case 
singular add \r. 

To form the possessive case plural add \r if the plural does not 
already end in s : if it already ends in s, add the apostrophe only. 

So, sing, town, town's', plur. towns, towns\ Thus in sound town's, 
towns, towns' are indistinguishable. But if we add the 's to a singular 
noun ending in the singular in an s sound, or sibilant, we pronounce 
the V as a separate syllable: thus actress's is pronounced just like 
actresses or actresses'. 

The possessive singular of a noun ending in a sibilant is frequently 
formed by adding the apostrophe without the -s, in order to avoid the 
recurrence of the s sound : but no hard and fast rule can be laid down. 
We say * Jesus' brothers,' * Sophocles' tragedies,' 'for goodness' sake,' 
* for conscience' sake.' But we more commonly sound the s and write 
1 St James's Square,' 'Mr Jones's,' 'St Thomas's Hospital,' in accord- 
ance with the pronunciation. 

Compound nouns take the possessive inflexion s at the end of the 
word: son-in-law's, man-of-war* s. When we use several words to form 
a name, we put the s after the last, treating the name as a compound 
word, though it has no place in the vocabulary as such. Thus we say 
' The prime minister of England's residence, ' * I got this at Marshall 
and Snelgrove's? 'He is in Price, Water house 6° Co.'s office.' 

Even nouns in apposition are dealt with in the same fashion. When 
one noun is used to explain another, it is put in the same case, generally 
in the same number, and if possible in the same gender. In the ex- 
pressions Queen Victoria, Turner the baker, the noun Victoria explains 
queen, and baker explains Turner. But when we use these expressions 
in the possessive case, we almost invariably drop the apposition and 
convert the two nouns into a compound. We might indeed say 'This 
is Victoria's, the queen's, crown:' 'I buy my bread at Turner's, the 
baker' s t shop': these forms illustrate apposition and are perfectly gram- 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— I IL CASE. 99 

matical. But as a fact we should all say ' This is Victoria the queen s 
crown,' ' I buy my bread at Turner the baker's shop.' 

The reader may find the following examples of the 
declension of nouns of some service in recalling to his 
mind the details contained in this section. 

Sing. Plur. Sing. Plur. 

Norn. Obj. ox oxen mouse mice 

Possess. ox's oxen's mouse's mice's 

Sing. Plur. 

Nom. Obj. conscience consciences 

Possess. conscience's, consciences' 
or conscience' 

Sing. Plur. 

Nom. Obj. son-in-law sons-in-law 

Possess. son-in-law's sons-in-law's 

Sing. Sing. Sing. 

Nom. Obj. James Henry VIII. The last of the barons 

Possess. James', Henry VIII. 's The last of the barons' 
or James's 

99. Can we always use at pleasure the inflected 
form of the possessive in 9 s or the preposition of} 

No : a few trials will show that the preposition of can 
always be employed, but that there are narrow limits to 
the use of 9 s. We can say either 'the bo/s cap,' or 
'the cap of the boy/ 'the horse's bridle/ or 'the bridle 
of the horse/ 'nature's forces/ or 'the forces of nature/ 
' friendship's garland,' or ' the garland of friendship.' But 
we cannot say, 'the ink's colour/ 'grammar's laws/ 'the 
kettle's lid/ l the station's platform.' 

Speaking generally we may say that the inflected 
form in *s is reserved for the names of living things 
and of personified objects, though our usage does not 
entirely conform to this principle : we use the form in 's in 
such phrases as 'a year's absence/ 'a month's delay/ though 
there is no personification to justify these idioms. 

7 —2 



ioo ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

100. A quaint error was formerly prevalent that this 'j was a cor- 
ruption of his : that John's book was a degenerate form of John his book. 
In the Prayer-Book we find the expression ''Jesus Christ his sake? 
Whatever may be the origin of phrases of this form, two considerations 
disprove the theory that the 's of the possessive was a corruption of his : 

I. Old English presents us with the possessive form in es, but shows 
no trace of an original his from which it was alleged according to this 
theory to have been developed. 

i. How can the s of the word his itself be explained on this theory? 
If s=his, whence did we get the first his? 

101. The beginner may find it helpful in determining 
the case of the nouns in a sentence if he asks the following 
questions : 

To discover the — 

Nominative, put who? or what? before the verb. 
'The enemy took the town/ 'Who took the town? ' ' The 
enemy. 7 ' The town was taken by the enemy/ ' What was 
taken ? ■ ' The town/ 

Objective : (a) Direct Object, put whom? or what? 
before the verb and its subject. 'The enemy took the 
town/ ' What did the enemy take ? ? ' The town/ 

(b) Indirect Object, put to or for whom or what? 
' Give me the book/ ■ What do you give ? ' ' The book : ' 
this is the direct object. ' To whom do you give it ? ' 'To 
me/ 'Me' is the indirect object. 

Possessive, look for the sign of inflexion 's. 

Questions. 

1, Name the case of each noun in the following sentences : — 
John killed Thomas. Thomas was killed by John. Thomas, the coach- 
man's brother, was killed by John the gardener. Thomas the coach- 
man's brother was killed by John. Call me a friend. Call me a cab. 
The people chose Balbus consul. 

2. Wolsey the chancellor. Preserve the apposition of these nouns 
and make three sentences in which they occur respectively in the 
Nominative, Possessive, and Objective cases. How should we form 
the Possessive in common use ? 



INFLEXION OF NOUNS.— Ill CASE. 101 

3. Write the possessive case singular and plural, (where the mean- 
ing of the noun admits a plural), of goodness , Socrates, Burns, Debenham 
and Freebody, his' sister Mary, his sisters Mary and Rose ; hero, goose, the 
Prince of Wales, the Duke of Beaufort, child, sheep, footman, Norman, 
Englishman. 

4. Give the feminine of songster, marquis, beau ; the masculine of 
witch, roe, slut; the plural of sheep, sheaf, cargo, cameo. 

5. How did the termination es or s come to be the usual mark of the 
plural in English nouns ? 

Mention other ways of forming the plural, and give examples. 

Is there anything anomalous in the use of the words breth?'en, riches, 
chickensl 

[In Old English, nouns had several plural suffixes, the commonest of 
which was -an: another common ending was -as. It was formerly 
supposed that the extension of -as (which became -es) was due to 
French influence. The plural in -es is now known, however, to have 
been in general use before French had exercised any influence on our 
language.] 

6. How does the possessive case differ both in form and in use from 
the old genitive ? State and illustrate the rules for its use in the singular 
and in the plural. 

[Our possessive inflexion \y has come to us from the Old English 
termination es, which was the genitive ending of some masculine and 
neuter nouns, but not of feminine nouns, nor of nouns in the plural. The 
s in plurals like oxerfs, mice's, has been attached through the influence 
of nouns with plurals regularly formed in s, as such nouns have the s in 
the possessive, sons', duchesses.' The uncontracted es is still visible in 
Wedn-<w-day and is sounded in many words ending in a sibilant, such 
as duchess ', Thomas', ass's. One of the old genitive plural endings is 
preserved in Wit-ma-gemot, * meeting of wise men.' The absence of 
the s from Lady -day, Friday, is due to the fact that feminine nouns in 
Old English did not take this inflexion. 

The relations expressed by the old genitive were much more 
numerous than those expressed by the modern possessive. The posses- 
sive inflexion is now generally limited to names of living beings and of 
personified objects. The preposition of enables us to express the rela- 
tions indicated by the old genitive : e.g. partitive relation, ' door of the 
house,' 'half of his fortune' ; adjectival relation, 'act of mercy,' 'man of 
virtue'; objective relation, 'love of money.' 

For a fuller treatment of this question the student may consult Bain's 
Higher English Grammar, pp. 79 — 82, and 135 — 7.] 




io2 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

7. Give the definition and derivation of the word Case. 
How many Cases are there in English? Name them and describe 
their uses. 

[The Latin grammarians represented the nominative by a perpen- 
dicular and the other cases by lines falling away from it. This symbol 
Nom. Obj. Poss. Dat. Abl. explains the origin of some of our terms 

connected with case: thus, 'case' itself is 
from the Latin casus, 'a falling': 'oblique 
cases' are * slopings-away ' from the nomi- 
native : when we enumerate the cases of a 
noun, we decline it or give its declension, 
that is, its ' fallings.'] 



8. Insert the apostrophe where it is usually placed in the following 
phrases : — Socrates wife, the captains son, for conscience sake, their whos 
and their whiches, the Officers Widows and Orphans Fund. 

9. Write the possessive case in the plural of the feminine form 
corresponding to bachelor, nephew, gander, sultan, fox, peacock, earl, 
host, billy-goat, jackass, husband, abbot, widower, marquis, drake. 

10. State and illustrate the rules for the formation of the possessive 
case of Nouns, singular and plural. 

Define the relations expressed by the following phrases, and state 
which, if any, contain true possessive cases : in Reasons ear, what a 
love of a baby I ', a day* s journey, a man of feeling, my money* s worth. 

11. Addison says, — 'The single letter s on many occasions does 
the office of a whole word and represents the his or her of^our fore- 
fathers.' Criticise this statement. 



io3 



CHAPTER XII. 

Adjectives. 

102. An Adjective is a word which is used 
with a noun to limit its application. 

The name sheep is applicable to all sheep. If we join 
the word black to the noun sheep, the name black sheep is 
applicable only to those sheep which possess the quality of 
blackness. The application of the name sheep has been 
limited to a smaller number of things. In like manner, if 
we say some sheep, twenty sheep, or these sheep, those sheep, 
we nanow, or restrict, or limit, in every instance the applica- 
tion of the noun. We can make this limitation in other 
ways : we can say ' the sheep which won the prize at the 
show,' or 'the squire's sheep/ restricting the application 
of the word sheep by the use of a subordinate clause, or by 
the use of a noun in the possessive case. But a subordinate 
clause is not an adjective, though it may be so used as to 
have the force of an adjective, and squires is a noun in the 
possessive case, though it limits the application of the word 
sheep like an adjective. Squire or any other noun in the 
possessive case does the work of an adjective, but it is only 
when it is in the possessive case that it performs this func- 
tion. Squire is not an adjective, nor is its possessive squires 
an adjective. 



io 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



103. Adjectives and verbs resemble each other 
in this respect, that they express attributes or qualities 
of things, but there is a difference in their way of 
doing it. In the expression 'the prosperous merchant/ 
prosperity is assumed as an attribute of the merchant : in 
the sentence 'The merchant prospered/ prosperity is de- 
clared to be an attribute of the merchant. In the expres- 
sion ' the victorious army/ the connexion of victory with the 
army is implied : in the sentence ' The army conquered/ 
this connexion is formally stated So again, when we say 
' the black sheep ' we assume, or imply, or take for granted 
the connexion of the attribute blackness with the thing a 
sheep. When we say 'The sheep is black/ we explicitly 
state this connexion. The word black in the former case is 
said to be used attributively, in the latter case predicatively, 
since it forms, together with the verb is, the predicate of the 
sentence. 

104. Bearing in mind that the function, or special work, 
of an adjective is to limit the application of a noun, let us 
arrange adjectives in groups, or classes, according 
to the kind of limitation which they effect. 

i. Qualitative: What sort? Ans: black, good, 
big. 
'i. Definite: How many? Car- 

^ L . dinal Numerals : Ans : one, 

2. Quanti- . , 
i eight. 

ii. Indefinite : How much ? How 

many ? Ans : all, some. 

3. Demonstrative : Which ? Ans : this, each, 
third. 

This classification is open to criticism, but for practical purposes it 
will probably serve our ends better than one more exhaustive. A few 
words are required to meet objections and to remove difficulties. These 
questions may be asked : — 



Adjectives 
are 



tative 



ADJECTIVES. 105 

1. Why are such words as big, great, large, small, placed among 
qualitative adjectives? Do they not mark quantity! 

They mark size, but not amount : they indicate the dimensions of the 
thing, but not how much of it we refer to. 

2. Where are the Ordinal Numerals, first, second, third, etc.? 

Their place is among the Demonstrative adjectives, which point out 
a thing by marking its relation to ourselves or to some other thing. 
What is this to me is that to you, and vice vers A. A thing is fifth in 
relation to other things which are fourth and sixth. The word fifth 
answers the question Which? not the questions How many? or How 
much? 

3. If we say 'blind Milton,' 'patriotic Hampden,' 'the resounding 
ocean,' do these adjectives limit the application of the nouns? 

No, for the nouns already name objects which are single or individual. 
' Milton ' or ' Hampden ' is the name of one thing : there is only one 
ocean. We must understand these expressions as condensed forms of 
saying 'Milton who was blind,' 'Hampden who was patriotic,' 'the 
ocean which is resounding. ' 

4. Why should all and half be classed as Indefinite? 

Because they are clearly lacking in numerical definiteness. All may 
be five or fifty: the same thing is true of half . They express a definite 
proportion, but not a definite number. 

On the other hand none and both must be placed amongst the Definite 
Quantitative Adjectives, for though all is Indefinite, since it does not 
express how many, none is as Definite as possible, since it expresses 
the absence of any. Both, again, means two, but two taken together. 

105. The student may find it helpful towards a clear 
understanding of the classification of adjectives, if he reads 
the examples given below in their respective groups. 

i. Adjectives of Quality : thick, wise, sad, tally magni- 
ficent, modern, holy, native, senior. 

2. Adjectives of Quantity : 

(i) Definite; Cardinal Numerals, one, two, fifty, 
no, none, both. 

(ii) Indefinite; many, any, some, all, few, half 
several, most. 



106 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. Demonstrative Adjectives : 

(i) A and the. 

(ii) Pronominal Adjectives of various kinds : this, 
what, any, each, his. These we shall deal with in Chapter 
xiv. 

(iii) The Ordinal Numerals, first, twe?itieth, thou- 
sandth. 

106. Some Adjectives are used as Nouns. 

(a) 'The good, the true, the beautiful? may be sub- 
stituted for 'goodness, truth, beauty/ We describe these 
words as Adjectives employed as Abstract Nouns. 

(b) * The wise? ' rich and poor? signify ' wise people,' 
'rich and poor people.' We describe these words as Ad- 
jectives employed as Concrete Nouns, 

(c) Several adjectives have become nouns so completely 
that they take a plural and a possessive inflexion. Thus, 
we say Romans, Germans (not however Frenches or Dutches, 
probably on euphonic grounds, because of the sibilant 
ending of the adjective), Gladstonians, Jacobites, seniors, 
elders, betters, ancients, blacks, whites, 'form fours T 'things 
are all sixes and sevens? others. 

107. Remarks on. the Forms of the Numerals. 

1. Cardinals indicate the number of things spoken of. They answer 
the question How many? 

One appears with a negative prefix in none — no one : in the possess- 
ive case as an adverb in once: as a noun in the plural, 'her little ones. } 

Five has lost before the v an n which is kept in German fun/, Latin 
quinque. 

Ten supplies the ending -teen to numerals from 13 to 19, and -ty to 
multiples of 10 up to 90. 

Eleven is composed of e or en, meaning 'one,' (compare German 
ein), and lev or lif which is really the same as dec- in decern, the Latin 
for 'ten/ though its identity is wonderfully disguised. Yet we see how 
/ can take the place of d if we compare 'Odyssey' and 'U/ysses,' and in 
our pronunciation of enough, a guttural g has become/. 



ADJECTIVES. 107 

Twelve similarly contains two-\-lif, duo + decim, dib-deKa. 

By some authorities, however, the lif in eleven and twelve is regarded, 
not as the equivalent of dec-em or Uk-gl, but as radically connected with 
the verb leave. If this is the case, eleven and twelve stand respectively 
for * one-left' (over ten), ' two-left' (over ten). 

Dozen is from douze, Latin duodecim. Here on the contrary we 
have a case of borrowing — from the French. 

Score is from an Old English word, meaning 'to scratch, or notch' : 
it is used now as a verb signifying ' to keep an account. ' As a noun it 
sometimes means 'twenty,' — perhaps because twenty was the number of 
notches marked on one tally or stick, — and sometimes means an indefinite 
number : ' He made a good score. ' 

Million is from the Latin mille, 'a thousand,' with an augmentative 
suffix -on, signifying 4 a big thousand,' just as balloon signifies 'a big 
ball' and trombone 'a big trumpet.' 

2. Ordinals indicate the position in a series of the things spoken of. 
First is the superlative of /ore, 'most in front,' the being altered 

by Umlaut. See p. 50. 

Second is from the Latin secundus, 'following,' from sequor, 'I follow.' 
Our native word was other. 

Third was once thrid, retained in the word Riding= Thriding— 
Thirding, 'a little third,' of Yorkshire. This transposition is called 
metathesis. See p. 51. 

It should be noticed that with the exception of the words second, 
dozen, millioft, billion, &>c. , our numerals are of English origin. 

3. Multiplicatives indicate how many times the thing spoken of 
exceeds some other thing. They are formed by adding -fold to the 
Cardinals : e.g. twenty/old, hundredfold. 

108. The so-called Articles. The words the and 
an or a are Demonstrative adjectives. In parsing, 
we may describe the as a demonstrative adjective commonly 
called the definite article, and an or a as a demonstrative 
adjective commonly called the indefinite article. 

In Old English the was a demonstrative pronoun, de- 
clined in three genders, singular and plural. That was its 
neuter singular. 

An is another form of the numeral adjective one. The 
n is thus part of the root. We have not added n to a, but 
have dropped the n before words beginning with a con- 
sonantal sound. 



108 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

109. Points of interest connected with the words the 
and an or a are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

i. Do the and an differ so widely from Adjectives 
as to justify grammarians in regarding them as forming a 
separate Part of speech ? 

Let us inquire, first, in what respects they resemble the adjectives 
that and one, and secondly, in what respects they differ from the adjec- 
tives that and one. 

In the first place, what are the points of similarity ? 

(i) They resemble that and one in their force: 'the book' is a 
weaker form of 'that book,' *a book' of 'one book.' 

(2) They are connected with that and one in their origin : that was 
the neuter of the, an was the older form of one. 

On the other hand, what are the points of difference ? 

( 1) That and one are used as adjectives and as pronouns, the and an 
are used only as adjectives. Thus we can say 'Give me that book,' 
'Give me one book,' using that and one as adjectives, or we can 
say ' Give me that, ' ' Give me one, ' using that and one as pronouns or 
substitutes for nouns. But although we can say 'Give me the book,' 
'Give me a book,' using the and a as adjectives, we cannot say 'Give me 
the, 1 'Give me a/ using the and a as pronouns. 

(2) An ordinary adjective can be used either attributively, as in the 
expression, 'the black horse,' or predicatively, as in the expression, 'The 
horse is black. ' Now the Articles can be used only attributively. We can 
say 'Sovereignty is one and indivisible,' but we cannot say 'Sovereignty 
is an and indivisible.' We can say 'John is lazy: James is that also,' 
but we cannot say 'James is the also.' 

But this restriction about the use of the and an affords quite in- 
sufficient reason for constituting a new Part of Speech which shall con- 
sist of these two words. For there are other adjectives which do not 
admit of being used to form predicates. We cannot say 'This is my, 
that is your, ' any more than we can say ' This is the, that is an. ' But 
this peculiarity does not prevent us from calling my and your adjectives. 
Why then should the and an be differently regarded? 

2. When is an used instead of a ? 

Before words beginning with a vowel, or a silent h, as in heir, honest; 
but words beginning with a y, or with a u which has the sound of y 
before it, take a: thus we say ' an utter failure,' but ' a useful machine.' 
To speak of ' an university ' sounds rather pedantic. Words beginning 



ADJECTIVES. 109 

with an aspirate, however, if accented on the second syllable, commonly 
take an\ thus we speak of ' an habitual offence,' 'an historic character,' 
1 an heroic incident,' although, we say ' a habit,' ' a history,' * a hero.' 

3. What are the chief uses of the? 

(a) to point out a thing: 'Give me the book, — not the red one, the 
black one.' 

(b) to specify objects which are well known to us: 'Let us have a 
walk in the garden'; 'the village,' 'the church.' 

(e) to indicate things of which only a single specimen exists : * the 
Alps,' 'the Atlantic,' 'the Thames.' Hence also with superlatives, 
'the meanest of mankind,' 'the highest point,' as these are singular 
objects. 

(d) to signify a class, with nouns in the singular number or with 
adjectives: 'the horse,' 'the ant'; 'the rich,' 'the wise.' 

(e) in colloquial language with emphasis on the word the, to give 
the force of a superlative : 'Here comes the cricketer,' meaning 'the best 
cricketer.' 

(/) as an adverb with comparatives: 'the more the better.' This 
signifies 'by that much the more by so much the better,' like the Latin 
quo and eo. The is here a survival of the Old English ablative or in- 
strumental case, thi, from the definite article or demonstrative pronoun 
the. 

4. What are the chief uses of an ox a? 

(a) to signify one : 'three men in a boat', 'two of a trade': 'In a 
year or two he will come down to a shilling a day. ' 

(b) to signify any one : 'If a body meet a body:' 'A horse is a vain 
thing for safety.' 

(c) to signify some one, or a certain one : 'A policeman told me there 
was a fire :' 'He has a great liking for sport. ' 



Questions. 

1. Give the derivation and definition of the term adjective. 

Distinguish the different kinds of adjectives in the sentence: — 'Every 
man did that which was right in his own eyes.' 

Give one example of each kind of adjective not represented in the 
preceding sentence. 

[Adjective is from Latin adjectivum, ' what can be added on.'] 

1. Is it right to say that an Adjective marks the quality of a 
Noun} 



no ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. What is an adjective? Point out the adjectives in the lines: 

* And his droop'd head sinks gradually low — 
And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow 
From the red gash, fall heavy, one by one, 
Like the first of a thunder-shower.' 

4. Refer to its class each Adjective in the following stanzas 

* Far different we, — a froward race : 
Thousands, though rich in Fortune's grace, 
With cherished sullenness of pace 

Their way pursue, 
Ingrates who wear a smileless face 
The whole year through.' 

5. Refer to its class each Adjective in the following sentences : — 

'My mind to me a kingdom is, 
Such perfect joy therein I find.' 
'Second thoughts are best.' — 'No road is long with good company.' — 
'That civility is best which excludes all superfluous formality.' — 'Most 
things have two handles and a wise man will lay hold of the best.' — 
1 What truly great thing has ever been effected by the force of public 
opinion ? ' — ' Few of the many wise apophthegms which have been 
uttered, from the time of the Seven Sages of Greece to that of Poor 
Richard, have prevented a single foolish action.' 

6. Limit the application of the nouns thoughts, mutton, music, by 
prefixing to each (1) a Qualitative, (2) a Quantitative, (3) a Demon- 
strative Adjective. 

7. Form Adjectives from the following Nouns: — slave, tempest, 
clay, sense, man, quarrel, sore, gold, wretch, care, right, thought, fire, 
silver, courage. 

Attach each Adjective to a suitable noun. 

[More than one Adjective can be formed from some of the above 
words. From sore we obtain sorry.] 

8. Write short sentences to illustrate the use of an adjective 
(a) attributively, (b) predicatively, (c) as an abstract noun. 

9. The following Adjectives are used as Nouns in the plural. 
Supply the appropriate Noun which may be understood with each 
word : — eatables, valuables, incapables, unmentionables, vitals^ italics y 
sundries, greens, empties, brilliants. 

Add any more examples which occur to you. 



ADJECTIVES. in 

10. {a) Some Adjectives are used as Nouns: 

(b) Some Nouns are used as Adjectives : 

(c) Some Adjectives are used only predicatively. 
Construct three sentences to illustrate each of these statements. 
[The use of Nouns as Adjectives is exemplified in such combinations 

as 'iron bar,' 'village church/ ' church bell,' 'railway bridge.' Instances 
abound. Adjectives used only predicatively are not numerous. See 
§ 247. Other examples are akin, alive, athirst, aware, awry.] 

1 1 . Would you put a or an before each of the following words ? — 
union, year, hypocrisy, hotel, urn, hour, harangue, history, historian, 
usurper. 

12. Distinguish between the use of the Definite and of the Indefinite 
Article. Explain the use of the Article in '0 burnt child shuns the 
fire, ' * twice a day, ' * the red flag. ' 

[Note here that we might have expected i a fire* rather than 'the 
fire/ as a burnt child shuns not only the fire at which it was once burnt, 
but any fire. 

In * twice a day,' although a has the form of the article now, it is a 
corruption of the preposition on, meaning in.] 

13. Explain the uses of the and a in the following phrases : 

(a) The more the merrier. 

(b) The lazy Scheldt. 

(c) A penny a piece. 



112 



CHAPTER XIIL 

Inflexion of Adjectives. 

110. One result which the Norman Conquest produced 
upon our language was this : the inflexions marking gender 
and case disappeared from our adjectives and, with the 
exception of these and those, the plurals of this and that, the 
inflexions marking number followed them. The adjective 
in English is thus in striking contrast with the adjective 
in Greek, or Latin, or German. In these languages the 
adjective is declined : with us it is invariable as regards 
gender, number, and case. Thus the only inflexion of 
adjectives which survives in modern English is that of 
Comparison. 

111. What do we mean by the Comparison of 
Adjectives ? 

We saw that adjectives might be classified in three 
groups as Qualitative, Quantitative, or Demonstrative. A 
qualitative adjective indicates the presence of some quality 
in the thing of which we are speaking. If we say 'The 
sheep is black/ we assert that the sheep has the quality 
called blackness, or in other words that blackness is an attri- 
bute of the sheep. Now many qualities are variable in the 
amount or degree in which they are present. Blackness 
admits of different shades : height, weight, speed, cleverness, 
are qualities which admit of far greater differences of degree 
than blackness. We observe the varying extent to which 



INFLEXION OF ADJECTIVES. 113 

these different qualities are presented to us by making a 
comparison of the objects, and we record the results of our 
observation by modifying the adjectives which are attached 
to the names of these objects. This modification is called 
Comparison of Adjectives. 

An Adjective in the Positive Degree expresses the pre- 
sence of a quality without reference to the extent to which 
that quality is present in something else. 

An Adjective in the Comparative Degree expresses the 
presence of a quality to a greater extent than that to which 
it is present in something else, or in the same thing under 
other circumstances. 

An Adjective in the Superlative Degree expresses the 
presence of a quality to a greater extent than that to which it 
is present in anything else with which we make the contrast. 

Thus we say 'John is younger but taller than his 
brother : Mary is the cleverest of the three children.' 

112. Do all Adjectives admit of Comparison ? 

Clearly not. The Demonstrative Adjectives, — this, 
that, a, the, first, second, — express no quality which varies in 
amount. Then again of the Quantitative Adjectives, 
those which are definite, like the Cardinal Numerals and 
none, both, have meanings which do not admit of variations 
of degree.' And it is only a few of the indefinite adjectives 
of quantity which admit of comparison. We can compare 
many, much, little, few, but not any, all, some, half, several. 

Nor is it possible to form comparatives of all even of 
the Qualitative Adjectives : for — 

(i) The adjective in the positive degree may already 
express the presence of the quality in the greatest con- 
ceivable extent : thus, extreme, universal, full, empty, top, 
infinite, perfect, if literally used cannot be compared. When 
we say 'This glass is emptier than that/ 'Yours is a more 

w . E. G. 8 



ii 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

perfect specimen/ we are evidently employing the words 
empty and perfect in an inexact sense. 

(ii) The adjective may denote the presence of a quality 
which does not vary in its amount : e.g. wooden, circular, 
mo?ithly, English. 

113. Formation of Comparatives and Super- 
latives. There are two ways of forming the degrees of 
comparison : 

i. Add to the Positive -er to form the comparative and 
-est to form the superlative, in the case of all words of one 
syllable and some words of two syllables, especially those in 
-er, -le, -y, as clever, able, merry. 

2. Use the adverbs more, most before the Positive. 

The substitution of more and most for the inflexional 
forms -er and -est began through Norman French influence, 
but has been extended during the last two centuries on the 
grounds of euphony. Such forms as honourablest, ancienter, 
virtuousest, are not only disagreeable to the ear but also 
awkward to pronounce. 

Notice the following changes of spelling when the in- 
flexions marking comparison are added : 

L If the positive ends in -e, cut off the -e: e.g. grav-er, larg-er. 

ii. If in y, change the y to i if a consonant precedes, as drier, 
merrier, but retain the y if a vowel precedes, as gayer, greyer. (This 
is similar to the rule determining the spelling of plurals of nouns in -y.) 
Note that the adjective shy keeps the y. 

iii. Monosyllabic words ending in a consonant preceded by a short 
vowel double the consonant to show that the vowel is short : hotter, 
thinner, redder. A few other adjectives, not monosyllabic, exhibit the 
same orthographical change: cruetler, hopefuller. 

114. The following comparisons are irregular, that is 
to say, they do not conform to the general rules stated 
above ; in many instances deficiencies have been supplied 
by borrowing words from other adjectives: defect is one 
kind of irregularity. 



INFLEXION OF ADJECTIVES. 



up 



Positive. 




Comparative. 


Superlative. 


Good 




better 


best 


Bad 




worse 


worst 


Little 




less 


least 


Much, 


many 


more 


most 


Nigh 




nigher 


nighest, next 


Near 




nearer 


nearest 


Fore 




former 


foremost, first 


Far 




farther 


farthest 


[Forth] 




further 


furthest 


Late 




later, latter 


latest, last 


Old 




older, elder 


oldest, eldest 


Hind 




hinder 


hindmost, hindermost 


[In] 




inner 


inmost, innermost 


[Out] 




outer, utter 


utmost, uttermost 


[Up] 




upper 


upmost, uppermost 


Rathe 




[rather] 




The positive 


forms 


in brackets are adverbs : corresponding adjectives 


exist only in the 


comparative and superlative. 



115. Remarks on the Irregular Comparative 
Forms. 

Better comes from a root which we have in the word bootless, 
meaning ' of no good'; and in to boot, meaning ' to the good.' Best= 
bet -est. 

The stems of worse and less end in s, and the comparative suffix, 
which was originally -s before it became -r, has been merged in the s 
of the stems. Thus worse and less were not obviously comparative 
forms, and consequently we get the double comparatives worser, lesser. 

Less, least are not formed from little. 

More, most are connected etymologically with mickle, not with 
many. The archaic moe or mo and more are from different roots. 

Near is really the comparative of nigh: the r is the sign of com- 
parison : so nearer is a double comparative. In Old Eng. the positive 
was neah. 

Last is from latest, as best from betest. We use latter and last of 
order in a series, later and latest of time. 

Elder, eldest show a modification of the vowel of the positive which 
is common in German comparative forms. With reference to the double 
set of forms, elder, eldest, older, oldest ', observe that (i) elder is no longer 
used to express comparison with than : we cannot say - He is elder than 
his brother': (2) the use of elder is restricted to persons: we cannot say 
'This is the elder of the two horses :' (3) elder can be used as a substan- 
tive, * Respect your elders:' older is always an adjective. 

S— 2 



u6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Rathe as a positive adjective meant 'early.' Milton speaks of 'the 
rathe primrose. ' We preserve only the comparative rather, which we 
use as an adverb : 'I would rather go' = I would sooner go than not go, 
if I had the choice. 

Hindmost^ inmost, utmost, etc. These words in -most require par- 
ticular attention. At first sight one would naturally suppose them to be 
compounds of most, as this explanation would exactly suit their meaning 
as superlatives. But we can trace their forms back to an earlier period 
of the language and satisfy ourselves that they did not arise by the com- 
bination of most and hind, most and in, etc. In Old English, several 
adjectives, which have comparatives and superlatives formed from adverbs, 
contain the letter -m- which was a superlative suffix. To this was added 
the superlative ending -est, making mest, which was confounded with 
most. Thus these words are really double superlatives. (But most the 
superlative of much is not formed in this way. It is derived from a 
positive root mag-, meaning ' great,' by adding st.) 

Foremost is really a double superlative of fore, containing the two 
superlative inflexions -m- and -st. But the fact that the -m- represented 
an earlier superlative suffix was forgotten, and from forem-ost, as if it 
were a simple superlative, the comparative form-er was coined. Hence 
the word former breaks up into these elements ; root fore, superlative 
suffix -/»-, comparative suffix -er. 

First represents the superlative of fore, forest, the vowel of the root 
being changed by Umlaut. 

Further is a comparative of fore, formed by adding a comparative 
suffix -ther. It was wrongly looked upon as a comparative of forth to 
which the regular comparative ending -er had been added, and, owing 
to this mistaken notion, the th was retained in the superlative furth-est. 

Farther and. further are used indiscriminately now, but their meanings 
were originally different; farther meant 'more distant, more far away,' 
further, ' more in front, more to the fore.' Yet we see no contradiction 
at the present day in saying 'Stand further off,' 'He is coming farther 
this way.' 

Hind occurs as an adjective in 'the hind quarter,' l kind wheel.' 

Utter is used as a comparative in the law-courts in the phrase 'the 
utter bar,' in contrast with the 'inner bar.' 

116. Examples of Double Comparatives are seen 
in nearer, lesser, worser: examples of Double Superlatives 
in foremost, inmost, upmost, etc. Such expressions as more 
better, more braver, most worst, most unkindest are frequently 
met with in Shakespeare and other Elizabethan writers. 
When we use such expressions as chiefest or most universal, 
we are employing adjectives which are double superlatives 



INFLEXION OF ADJECTIVES. n 7 

in meaning though not in form. But this arises from our 
laxity in the choice of words : we use chief as if it meant the 
same as important^ and universal as if it meant the same as 
general. 

117. Superlatives are sometimes employed to denote 
the presence of a quality in a high degree, without any 
suggestion of comparison. When a mother writes to her son 
as 'My dearest boy/ she does not mean that his brothers 
occupy a lower place in her affections : * dearest ' signifies in 
such a case ' very dear/ 

118. There are some comparative adjectives which we 
cannot use with than. Thus the following adjectives which 
have been borrowed directly from the Latin in the com- 
parative form do not admit than after them : senior, junior, 
exterior, (which take to after them); major, minor, interior. 
The following adjectives of English origin have the same 
characteristic ; elder, inner, outer, latter. We can say older 
than, later than, but not elder than, latter than. 

Questions. 

i. Adjectives of two syllables having certain terminations may be 
compared without the use of more and most. Specify three of these 
terminations, and mention adjectives which contain them. 

2. Give the comparative and superlative degrees of sad, gay, free, 
nigh, bad, old, hateful, happy, out, awry, fore, late, sly, holy, far, 
virtuous, dry, complete, dig, honourable. 

3. Make sentences which illustrate the difference in our use of 
oldest, eldest-, latest, last; nearest, next ; farthest, furthest. 

4. Which of the following Adjectives, when employed in their 
strict sense, cannot be compared? — common, universal, supreme, ?nonthly, 
triangular, despotic, absolute, inevitable, unique, European, eternal, 
boimdless. 

5. Describe the origin and formation of the words first, second, 
eleven, thirteen, twenty, million. 



n8 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Pronouns. 

119. A Pronoun is commonly defined as a word used 
instead of a noun. The definition has these merits : it 
is short, it is easily understood, and it calls attention to the 
useful service which most Pronouns perform in saving the 
repetition of a noun. Thus, for example, if no pronouns 
existed, instead of saying * John gave Mary a watch on her 
birthday, and she lost it,' we should have to say ' John gave 
Mary a watch on Mary's birthday, and Mary lost the watch' 

120. But have all pronouns this property of serving as 
substitutes for nouns ? 

A good deal of ingenuity must be exercised if we are to 
bring within the scope of the definition (i) the Personal 
Pronouns of the First and Second Persons, and (2) the 
Interrogative Pronouns. 

(1) For if the pronouns /and you were abolished, and 
nouns were put in their places, we should have to recast our 
sentences entirely and make all our statements in the third 
person. 

(2) Again, when we ask l Who broke the window ?' 
what is the noun for which we are to say that the pronoun 

Who serves as substitute? We must maintain that the 
pronoun Who here stands for the noun which the answer 
supplies, but this seems rather far-fetched. For suppose 
that the reply to the question is not 4 Brown,' or ' the boy/ 
but ' I don't know,' where is the noun ? 



PRONOUNS. 119 

The ordinary definition is exposed to the further objec- 
tion that it overlooks the essential difference between Noun 
and Pronoun. The essential difference is this. A Noun 
has a uniform meaning of its own. It always indicates an 
object of the same kind. The meaning of a Pronoun, on 
the contrary, varies with every change in its application. 
(See § 73, 3, p. 70.) If I read the words, 'A horse ran 
away/ I know, not indeed what particular horse ran away, 
but the particular class of objects to which the thing that 
ran away belonged. If, on the other hand, I read the 
words, ' It ran away/ // may signify a horse, or a dog, or a 
traction-engine, or anything else, according to the context, 
/means Jones when Jones speaks, Zeus when Zeus speaks, 
a horse or a tree when horses and trees speak, as they do 
in fables. In certain situations anything can be /, you, he, 
this, or that, but only one set of things can be horses. 
Pronouns admit of universal application : the objects which 
they denote are infinitely various. Nouns, on the contrary, 
identify things as belonging to particular groups. In short, 
Pronouns indicate ; Nouns name. 

A Pronoun might therefore be defined as a word which 
denotes a thing, not by its own name but by its relation to 
something else. This statement, however, unless accompanied 
by some such explanation as we have given above, would 
convey very little meaning to anybody. The student will 
probably prefer to fall back upon the ordinary definition of 
a Pronoun as a word used instead of a noun, and provided 
that he understands in what respects the definition is 
defective, no harm will result if he follows his preference. 

121. Pronouns are of different kinds. 

(1) Some are used exclusively as substitutes for nouns: 
e.g. he, who. We cannot say, ' He man ' or ' Who boy.' In 
such expressions as, 'I, the master,' 'You, the pupil,' 'He, 
John/ we have a noun in apposition with the pronoun : 
John explains he ; he does not limit the application of John. 



i2o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(2) Others are used both as substitutes for nouns and 
as adjectives limiting nouns : e.g. that, what. In the 
sentence, ' I like that book/ that is an adjective : in ' I like 
that,' it is a substitute for a noun (though we might also 
regard it as an adjective with a noun understood, just as 
we understand the noun 'horse' to be implied with the 
adjective 'black' in the sentence 'I like the white horse 
better than the black')* In the sentence ' What did he 
do ? ' what takes the place of a noun : in ' What work did 
he do ? ' it is an adjective limiting the meaning of work. 

(3) A few so-called pronouns are used only as adjectives, 
but they are usually dealt with under the head of pro- 
nouns because they are connected with pronouns in their 
origin : e.g. my, your. Thus we can say, ' My book is lost/ 
but not l My is lost'; 'Lend me your book,' not 'Lend me 
your' 

Keeping these distinctions in view, we may arrange the 
various classes of Pronouns in the following manner : 



Table of Pronouns. 

Used as Adjectives also. 



Used only as Nouns. 
I. Personal — I, we: thou, 

you, ye 
II. Demonstrative — he, she, 
it, they 

III. Reflexive — myself, your- 

self, himself 

IV. Relative — that, who 
V. Interrogative — who 

VI. Indefinite — anybody, 
anything, aught, some- 
body, something 
VII. Distributive — every- 
body, everything 

Used only as Adjectives. 
VIII. Possessive — my, our; thy, your; her, its, their. 



this, these; that, those 



what, which 
what, which 
one, any, certain, other, some 



each, every, either, neither 



PRONOUNS. 121 

The Possessives ours, yours, hers, theirs, are used when no noun 
follows them, and in this respect they resemble nouns, but their force is 
purely adjectival. The same remarks apply to mine and thine in modern 
diction. His admits of use either with or without a noun following, 

The Distributive pronoun every is now used only as an adjective, 
except occasionally in legal phraseology. 

122. Definitions of tne different kinds of Pronouns, 
i. Personal. 

The Pronoun of the First Person is used in the singular to denote 
the speaker alone, and in the plural to denote the speaker and others 
with whom he is associated. 

The Pronoun of the Second Person is used of the person or persons 
addressed. 

2. A Demonstrative Pronoun is one which points out a thing. 

3. A Reflexive Pronoun denotes the object of an action when the 
object is the same as the doer of the action. 

4. A Relative Pronoun is one which refers to some other nouns or 
pronoun and has the force of a conjunction. 

5. An Interrogative Pronoun is one by means of which we ask a 
question. 

6. An Indefinite Pronoun is one which does not point out precisely 
the object to which it refers. 

7. A Distributive Pronoun is used when there are more things than 
one, to denote that the things are taken separately. 

8. A Possessive Pronominal Adjective denotes that the noun which 
it. limits is the name of a thing belonging to some other thing. 

With the exception of the word Relative, the adjectives by which 
the kinds of pronouns are described convey a clearer notion of their 
characteristic features than these definitions will afford. The student 
should carefully notice the Examples of Pronouns given in the Table 
under their respective heads and observe the appropriateness of the 
names by which the various classes are distinguished. 

We will now consider the different classes in detail. 

123. I. The Pronouns of the First, Secondhand 
Third Persons are declined thus : 



Nom, 
Obj. 

Possess. 









Pronoun of 


Pronoun of 


Pronoun of 


$rd Person 


\st Person 


ind Person 


Sing. Plur, 


Sing, Plur. 


Sing, 


Plur, 


M, F, N, 


I we 


thou 


ye, you 


he she it they 


me us 


thee 


ye, you 


him her it them 


Tmy our 
Lmine ours 


thy 


your 


his her its their ~| 
hers theirsj 


thine 


yours 



122 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

124. Remarks on these Pronouns. 

(i) There cannot be a plural of / at all, strictly speaking. We 
does not mean /+/, as horses means horse + horse: there is in the nature 
of things for each of us only one /. We signifies really I+you, or 
/+ they. 

(2) Why should the pronouns denoting the 1st and the 2nd Person 
have no distinctions of Gender, while the pronoun denoting the 3rd 
Person possesses a set of inflexions to mark Gender ? 

Because when /am addressing you, our sex is not a matter of doubt, 
as we are both of us present ; but when we are speaking of a third thing, 
it is desirable for greater certainty to indicate whether it possesses sex 
or not, and what sex, as it may be absent. 

(3) The Pronoun of the Third Person is sometimes called a 
Personal pronoun, but it is better to class it with the Demonstratives. 
She was not originally the feminine of he : she was the feminine of the 
Old English definite article or demonstrative adjective, which supplied 
us also with our forms of the plural number, they, their, them 1 . 

The / in it is a sign of the neuter, like the d in Mud. Its is a 
modern word, occurring rarely in Shakespeare, at the beginning of the 
17th century, and frequently in Dryden, at the end of it. It appears 
once in the Authorized Version of the Bible (Levit. xxv. 5) as it is now 
printed, but not in the original edition of 1611. His was formerly the 
genitive case of both he and it : * If the salt have lost his savour.' 

(4) The forms of these Pronouns in the Possessive case are used no 
longer as Personal Pronouns, but only as Possessive Adjectives. Thus 
my and thy are equivalents of the Latin meus and tuus, not of mei and 
tui. Pars mei must be rendered 'a part of me,' not * my part;' 
* forgetfulness of you' is not expressed by saying 'your forgetfulness,' 
nor 'envy of them' by saying * their envy,* Passages may be found 
however in Shakespeare, or in the Authorized Version of the Bible, in 
which my, mine, his, our, your, their, &c, are used as true genitives of 
the Personal Pronouns. Thus, in the words, ■ My doctrine is not mine, 
but his that sent me,' (John vii. 16) mine signifies * of me,' and his 'of 
him.' Similarly, 'Be not afraid of their terror' (1 Peter iii. 14) means 
' Be not afraid of the terror of them, ' and ' In thy fear will I worship ' 
(Psalm v. 7) means ' In the fear of Thee will I worship.' These forms 



1 In Old English the Pronoun of the Third Person was declined in 
the nominative case thus: masc. he, fern, heo, neut. hit. Of these forms 
we have retained he and (h)it, but have borrowed the feminine she from 
the feminine seo of the Demonstrative, masc. se, fern, seo, neut. \>tzt 
('that'). The colloquial 'em, as in 'Give it 'em, 1 is a survival of hem, 
the old dative plural of he, not a corruption of them. 



PRONOUNS. 123 

belong to the Personal Pronouns by origin, but have become purely 
adjectival in force. We have therefore enclosed them in brackets. 

(5) Thau is used only in addressing God and in the flights of poetry 
or rhetoric. But half-a-century ago the Quakers employed thou and 
thee in ordinary speech. In the Elizabethan age thou and thee expressed 
affection or contempt, as is the case with tu in French and du in 
German to-day. The plural you is now used exclusively, whether we 
are addressing several individuals or only one. Sovereigns adopt this 
plural style in their manifestoes when speaking of themselves and say 
1 We ' for ' I.' Editors of newspapers express their opinions in the same 
fashion, frequently with effects which are droll rather than impressive. 

In an older stage of our language, ye was reserved for the nominative 
and you for the objective : * Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen 
you. ' Ye occurs now only in the diction of poetry. 

(6) The dative me survives in methinks, meseems^ 'woe is me? 
and as the indirect object, e.g. ' do me a service ' ; here me is equivalent 
to ' for me ' or ' to me.' 



125. II. Demonstrative Pronouns. 

This and that are employed to denote the latter and the 
former, like the Latin hie and ille, — this the one nearer to 
us, that the one farther away. 

That is by origin the neuter of the definite article or 
demonstrative adjective : the / is a sign of gender as in it 
and what 

Those is used as the plural of that, these as the plural 
of this : these and those are really forms of the plural of 
this. 

126. III. Reflexive Pronouns. 

Myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself 
itself, themselves, oneself 

(1) 'Take care of yourself/ 'They killed themselves/ 
In such sentences we have the reflexive use of these pro- 
nouns : the action performed by the doer passes back to 
him, so both the subject and the object of the sentence 
stand for the same person. 



i2 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

(2) 'Take care yourself/ 'They themselves killed it.' 
In such sentences we have the emphatic use of these pro- 
nouns : there is nothing reflexive in their meaning here. 

127. The compounds of self present difficult problems which are 
rendered still more obscure by research into their forms at earlier stages 
of the language. Let us take the words myself, ourselves, himself, and 
themselves, and see if, keeping our heads clear of historical details, we 
can give a satisfactory account of the words as they exist to-day. 

In the first place, what part of speech is self? 

A noun: we speak of 'love of self; 'a sacrifice of self; we say 
* Self makes demands on one's time.' Nouns take inflexions to mark the 
plural ; ^//"becomes selves. Nouns are limited in application by adjec- 
tives: my and our are possessive adjectives. There is no particular 
difficulty in understanding how the word myself came to be used both 
for reflexive and for emphatic purposes. If self means ' one's own person,* 
'I myself did it' is a way of saying 'I did it of my own person': 'I 
hurt myself* is a way of saying 'I hurt my own person.' Thus far all 
is fairly simple. 

But then by analogy we should expect the forms his self and their- 
selves. Is there any way of explaining the forms himself and them- 
selves ? 

In the first place, self must still be regarded as a noun, for it forms a 
plural selves. In the second place, him and them are pronouns, or the 
equivalents of nouns, in the objective case. Now the relation of the 
nouns him and self them and selves, not being one of dependence, (for if 
it were, one of the words would be in the possessive case, which it is 
not), must be one of apposition. Therefore the entire words must be 
composed of two nouns in the objective case standing in apposition. 
And this explanation fits in very well with the reflexive use of himself, 
themselves, 'lie struck himself 'They hurt themselves,* where nouns in 
the objective case are required. But then we can also say emphatically 
'He himself did it,' 'They themselves said so,' using himself and them- 
selves as subjects. Here the explanation breaks down. We can assume, 
if we like, that people lost sight of the original objective force of these 
words and came to use them as nominatives, just as we use me as a 
nominative, when we say 'It's me, 1 

Applying these conclusions to the forms one's self and oneself we may 
say that both can be justified : the former shows us one's in a relation ot 
dependence on the noun self, and therefore in the possessive case ; the 
latter exhibits the two words ont and selfm apposition. 

This is the simplest explanation which we can offer of these com- 
pounds of self as we find them existing now. The reader must not 
suppose however that the earlier history of these obscure forms affords 
any foundation for this mode of treating them. 



PRONOUNS. 125 

128. IV. Relative Pronouns. 

The characteristic feature of the Relative Pronouns is 
this : they have the force of conjunctions. Thus, 
the sentence * I met the policeman who said there was a 
disturbance ' contains two sentences rolled into one : 'I met 
the policeman. He told me there was a disturbance.' 
' This is the book that you lent me ' may be resolved into 
1 This is the book. You lent it me.' The name relative 
is not a happy one, as it does not call attention to this 
connective function. These pronouns might more appro- 
priately be called conjunctive or connective pro- 
nouns. Several other pronouns might with equal reason 
be called relative in this sense, that they relate or refer to 
an antecedent : thus, in the sentences * I saw John : he was 
looking very well/ i Here are your pens : they are all broken/ 
he refers to John, and they refers to pens, but he and they 
have no power to unite the sentences in which they occur 
with the sentences which precede them : this power belongs 
to the so-called Relative Pronouns alone. If we substitute 
who and which for he and they y the two sentences become 
in each case a single sentence: *I saw John who was 
looking well/ 'Here are your pens which are all broken'. 
The name Relative Pronoun is established too securely 
among grammatical terms, however, to allow us to replace 
it by another more suitable word : the student must there- 
fore pay particular attention to the concluding part of the 
definition of a Relative Pronoun as one which refers to 
some other noun or pronoun and has the force of a con- 
junction. 

The noun or pronoun to which the Relative refers is 
called the antecedent, i.e. that which goes before. The 
relative usually comes after the noun or pronoun to which 
it refers, but the order of the clauses containing the relative 
and antecedent is sometimes inverted. Thus 'Whom I 
honour, him I trust' is equivalent to 'I trust him whom 



126 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

I honour:' him is the antecedent, though the relative whom 
precedes it. 

The relative is often omitted when, if expressed, it would 
be in the objective case. Thus \ The man I met told me 
so ' is an elliptical form of expression for ' The man whom 
I met ; ' ' I have lost the book you lent me ' is elliptical for 
'the book which you lent me.' Similarly, 'the man you 
gave it to' is a condensed way of saying 'the man whom 
you gave it to', or 'the man to whom you gave it'; 'the 
book I asked for' represents 'the book which I asked for', 
or 'the book for which I asked'; 'the day I came' stands 
for 'the day which I came on', or 'the day on which I 
came'. But this omission of the relative can occur only 
when the relative is in the objective case: we cannot suppress 
the relative, if it is in the nominative or possessive. Thus 
from the sentence 'The man who met me told me so ' we 
cannot leave out who, nor from the sentence 'The man whose 
horse ran away was thrown off' can we leave out whose. 

The antecedent is sometimes omitted. Thus we may 
say ' Who breaks, pays.' When what is used as a relative, 
the antecedent is always omitted : ' I understand what you 
mean/ It is contrary to modern idiom to insert that in 
such a sentence before what. 

The Relative Pronouns are that, who, what, which, as. 
As a relative, that is always used as a noun. Beginners who 
find it puzzling to determine whether, in any sentence, that 
is a Demonstrative or a Relative, may find help in applying 
tests such as these : (i) Try who, whom^ and which, and 
notice whether by the use of any of these words the sense 
is preserved. If so, that is a Relative. Thus 'The man 
that met me,' 'The man that I met,' 'The man that I spoke 
to,' might be expressed with who in the first sentence, whom 
in the second and third. (2) Try this instead of that: if 
sense is made, though not precisely the same sense, that is 
a Demonstrative. Thus in the sentence ' Lend me that 



PRONOUNS. 127 

book : that is the only one that I haven't read/ the reader 
will be able to identify the first that as a demonstrative 
adjective limiting the noun book; the second that as a 
demonstrative pronoun; and the third that as a relative. 
It is true that the substitution of which for the second that 
would still make sense, and the application of the first of our 
two tests might therefore lead to the mistaken description 
of this word as a relative. But this error will be corrected 
by the use of the second test which shows that this can 
replace that. The difficulty of identifying that is increased 
by the fact that it is also a conjunction. If we meet with 
that in a context where who, whom, and this, will none of 
them make sense as its substitute, the word must be a 
conjunction. The reader can experiment upon the sen- 
tences i He said that you were here,' i I work that I may 
live/ 

129. V. The following are both Relative and In- 
terrogative Pronouns. 

Who is used only as a noun : we cannot say who man. 
It has three cases, who, whom, whose, in singular and plural. 

What is the neuter of who and can be used both as 
noun and adjective. What is used as an Interrogative in 
''What did he say?' Here it has the force of a noun. 
1 What remark did he make ? ' Here it is adjectival. It is 
used as a Relative in ' What they took they kept/ Here 
it has the force of a noun. i What towns they took they 
kept.' Here it is adjectival. 

What is not declined. When used as a noun it is 
neuter, but as an interrogative adjective it can be used with 
names of persons : ' What man, what woman, what child 
would believe this statement ? ' 

Which is a compound equivalent to whom + like, as such 
is a compound of so + like. It can be used as noun or adjec- 
tive, both as Interrogative and as Relative. l Which will you 



128 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

have ? ' * Which book will you have ? ' ' I know which I will 
have/ ' 1 know which book I will have.' 

There is a slight difference in our use of which and of 
who or what as interrogatives. Which implies that the 
choice is restricted to a known group of things. Thus we 
say * What shall we have for dinner ? ' when the selection is 
unlimited, but there's only turbot or salmon to-day; which 
shall we have?' as the selection is to be made from a 
definite number. 

Which as a Relative pronoun is no longer used of persons, 
though it was so used formerly : e.g. ' Our Father, which art 
in heaven.' 

From who, what, which, we have formed compound 
relatives whosoever, whichsoever, whatsoever. Whosoever is 
declined as follows : 

Nom. whosoever, Obj. whomsoever, Possess, whosesoever. 

130. The differences in our use of that and of who 
or which as relative pronouns must be carefully noted. 

(i) That is used of persons and things, whilst who is 
used of persons only and which of things. 

(2) That cannot follow a preposition : if that is 
used as the relative, the preposition is tacked on at the end 
of the sentence. Thus 'The man in whom I trusted' 
becomes 'The man that I trusted in'/ 'The house of which 
you told me ' becomes ' The house that you told me of; ' 
' The means by which he did it ' becomes ' The means that 
he did it by.' 

(3) That has a restrictive force which renders it 
unsuitable sometimes as the substitute for who or which. 
I can say ' My sister that is abroad is ill/ because I may 
have several sisters, and the clause introduced by that limits 
the application of the noun to one of the number. But 
I cannot say ' My mother that is abroad is ill/ because the 
restrictive that would suggest that I have more mothers 



PRONOUNS. 129 

than one, which is absurd. I must say ' My mother who 
is abroad,' which signifies * My mother, and she is abroad,* 
the word who having a coordinating force in uniting two 
coordinate statements, 'My mother is ill,' 'My mother is 
abroad.' 

131. As and But occur with the force of Relative 
Pronouns. 

As is the correlative of same and such : * Mine is not the same as 
yours,' ■ His behaviour is not such as will secure for him many friends.' 
We still hear as used for whom or that in rural districts : ' The man as I 
saw/ 'The man as told me.' These are vulgarisms now, but they 
were good English once. As is entitled to a place among the relative 
pronouns. 

But has the force of a relative pronoun in certain negative construc- 
tions. Thus in * There is nobody but thinks you mad,' ^but thinks' 
means ■ who does not think : ' in ' Who is there but hopes for happi- 
ness?' ''but hopes' means 'who does not hope.' We are not however 
to call but a relative pronoun here, though it serves as the substitute for 
one : it is a conjunction, and there is an ellipsis of a pronoun which 
should follow it : ■ There is nobody but he thinks you mad, ' ' Who is 
there but he hopes for happiness?' 

132. VI. Indefinite Pronouns. 

One is an indefinite pronoun : it is used vaguely, re- 
ferring not to any particular individual, but to persons or 
things generally : c One hears strange rumours of a rupture 
in the party.' It has a possessive case, one's : ■ One must 
be sure of one's ground.' Two views have been held 
respecting the origin of this word : (1) that it is simply the 
cardinal numeral, used as a pronoun; this is probably the 
right view: (2) that it is from French on, as in ■ on dit,' 
*one says/ where on = homme = Latin homo, ( man,' just as 
in German we have the equivalent expression 'man sagt.' 
One has the meaning ' a certain ' in such expressions as ' otie 
Simon a tanner.' 

Any contains the numeral one in its root an. 

Aught contains the word whit, — preserved in our expres- 
sions ■ not one whit,' ' not a whit,' — meaning ' thing.' 

W. E. G. 9 



i 3 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Naught is ' ne + aught,' of which the adverb not is 
merely a shortened form, 

133. VII. Distributive Pronouns. 

Each is a corruption of 'ever-like.' It can be used both 
as noun and as adjective: 'Give one to each? 'Give one 
to each boy.' 

Every is a corruption of ' ever-each/ and is used only 
when more than two are referred to. It is not employed 
in modern English as a noun, but must always be followed 
by a noun. 

Either contains as its elements 'aye-whether': in its 
constituent part whether, the suffix -ther marks duality 
or comparison, as in other, further. Either means ' one of 
two,' but sometimes occurs with the meaning 'each of two;' 
e.g. ' on either side of the river was there the tree of life/ 
(Rev. xxii. 2). Its negative is neither. 

Each other and one another are used after a transitive 
verb to express reciprocity of the action. When we 
say 'They hate each other] we mean that the feeling is 
mutual. Each other is used of two agents and objects, one 
another of more than two. The construction of the two 
parts of these compound expressions is different : each and 
one stand for the agents or subjects, other and another for 
the objects; thus — 

'They hate each {subject) the other {object)] 
' They hate one {subject) another {object)] 
each and one being in apposition with the subject they. 
But the grammatical relation of these Reciprocal Pronouns 
has been lost sight of in common use. If we still recognised 
their original construction, we should say 'They gave a 
present each to the other,' or ' one to another,' instead of 
saying, as we do, 'They gave a present to each other,' or 
'They gave presents to one another.' 



PRONOUNS. 131 

134. VIII. Possessives. 

The forms my, thy, its, were dealt with when we dis- 
cussed the pronouns of the First, Second, and Third Persons. 
Mine and thine contain a genitive inflexion n : this n has 
been dropped in my and thy, which are shortened forms of 
mine and thine, just as a is a shortened form of an. The r 
in our, your, their, is a genitive plural inflexion. 

Our, your, their, her, give rise to secondary forms ours, 
yours, theirs, hers, containing s which was originally an 
inflexion of the genitive singular only. They are thus 
double genitive forms, just as children is a double plural, 
nearer a double comparative, and inmost a double super- 
lative. 

It has already been pointed out that in modern speech 
we employ the Possessives belonging to the two groups 
with this difference : 

We use my, thy, her, its, our, your, their, if a noun 
immediately follows them : 

We use mine, thine, hers, ours, yours, theirs, if the noun 
which they limit does not follow them : 

His is used in both ways, but its only when followed by 
a noun. 

Thus we say ' Give me my book and take yours,' not 
■ Give me mine book and take your' But we say ' This is 
his book ' and c This book is his' 

In the diction of poetry, mine and thine occur with 
nouns following them, if the nouns begin with a vowel 
sound : ' mine eye,' ' mine ear,' ' thine honour.' 

135. Before leaving the subject of Pronouns, the reader 

should notice how inflexions, which have disappeared from 

nouns and adjectives, have survived in words belonging 

to this part of speech. Hi-m preserves the form of the 

dative singular, the-m the form of the dative plural ; the r 

in our, your, her, is a sign of the genitive ; the / in *'/, what, 

that, marks the neuter gender. 

g~2 



1 32 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Questions. 

i. Rewrite the following sentence without using any of the Pro- 
nouns: — *The policeman accompanied the prisoner's sister to his house 
and told her that she was to let him know if she received any further 
annoyance from her brother or his confederates. ' 

i. Refer to its class each of the Pronouns in the following 
sentences : — 

* Who steals my purse steals trash ; 'tis something, nothing ; 
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands; 
But he that filches from me my good name 
Robs me of that which not enriches him 
And makes me poor indeed.' 

'Who shall be true to us, 
When we are so unsecret to ourselves?' 

'Whatsoe'er thine ill 
It must be borne, and these wild starts are useless.' 

' And I myself sometimes despise myself.' 

' What everybody says must be true.' — 'Some that speak no ill of any 
do no good to any.' — 'Their sound went into all the earth.' — ' One 
may be sure of this, that one must be something to do something.' — 
' What is my life if I am no longer to be of use to others ? ' — ' Eat such 
things as are set before you.' — ' Whether of them twain did the will of 
his father?' — 'Anything for a quiet life.'— 'That which each can do 
best, none but his Maker can teach him.' — 'He is a wise man who 
knows what is wise.' — 'That is but an empty purse that is full of 
another's money.' 

3. How far may he, she, and it, be correctly classed as Personal 
Pronouns ? In what respect do they differ from / and thou ? 

[When a speaker says / or thou, the persons to whom he refers are 
clearly identified. The meaning of he, on the contrary, would be as 
indefinite as possible, unless the previous remarks enabled us to limit 
the application of the word.] 

4. Define Pronoun and Reflexive Pronoun. 

Name the other classes of Pronouns and give one example of each. 
Place in their proper classes ours, that, which, each. 

5. Distinguish between the use of a Personal and a Relative Pro- 
noun. Illustrate your explanation by reference to the two sentences: 
' My brother who came is gone.' ' My brother came, but he is gone.' 



PRONOUNS, 133 

6. State the rule of syntax respecting the agreement of the Relative 
Pronoun. 

Give two illustrations of the omission of the Relative, and make a 
sentence in which but is used with the force of a Relative. 

7. Write three short sentences in which the nominative, possessive, 
and objective cases of who, used as a Relative Pronoun, respectively 
occur. 

8. ' A gate which opened to them of his own accord ' (Acts xii. 10). 
Why is his used here ? 

9. Enumerate some of the principal uses of the word one. 

10. Point out anything faulty in the following sentences: 

* You may take either of the nine.' 

* There goes John with both his dogs on either side of him.' 

1 Between every stitch she would look up to see what was going on 
in the street.' 

[Every is distributive and singular. It must have been at least 
4 every two stitches ' or * every stitch and the next ' (or ' the last ') that 
she looked between.] 



*34 



CHAPTER XV. 

Verbs. 

136. A Verb is a word with which we can 
make an assertion. 

We make assertions about things. The word which 
stands for the thing about which we make the assertion 
is tailed the subject of the verb, or the subject of the 
sentence. As the names of things are nouns, the subject 
must be a noun or its equivalent, such as a pronoun, a verb 
in the infinitive mood, or a noun-clause. Thus we may say 

Error (Noun) 

It (Pronoun) 

To err (Infinitive) 

That one should err (Noun-clause) < 

When we make an assertion about a thing, we are said 
in grammatical language to predicate something about the 
thing. As no assertion can be made without the use of 
a verb, the verb is called the Predicate of the subject, 
or of the sentence in which it occurs. 

What is asserted is either action or state. Action is 
asserted when we say 'The prisoner stole the watch/ 'The 
watch was stolen by the prisoner,' 'The prisoner ran away.' 
State is asserted when we say 'The prisoner was glad,' 
'The prisoner continued unrepentant,' 'The prisoner slept 
soundly.' 



is human. 



VERBS. 135 

137. The action denoted by some verbs is conceived as 
being directed towards, or passing over to, a certain object. 
When we say 'The boy kicked the dog, and the dog 
scratched him, ; we assert actions the effects of which were 
not confined to the agents performing them: the boy's 
action passed beyond the boy, and the dog's action passed 
beyond the dog. But when we say ' The boy sat down and 
cried, and the dog barked and ran away/ we assert actions 
which terminated with the agents performing them. This 
distinction is expressed by the words Transitive and Intran- 
sitive: it is of the greatest importance. 

A Transitive Verb is one which indicates an 
action directed towards some object. 

An Intransitive Verb is one which indicates 
(1) an action not directed towards some object, 
or (2) a state. 

The student may occasionally be puzzled to determine whether a 
verb is used transitively or intransitively, for many verbs are used in 
both ways, though not of course in both ways at the same time. 
He must ask himself whether the action expressed by the verb produced 
an effect upon something outside the doer (or, in the case of a re- 
flexive verb, upon the doer itself). He will usually find a word 
representing the object to which this action passed, but occasionally 
the object is not mentioned. The verb kicked is clearly transitive 
when the dog comes after it to indicate its object, and so is scratched 
when it is followed by him. But how are we to describe these 
verbs when we say 'The boy lay on the floor and kicked and 
scratched ' ? If we mean that he kicked and scratched people at large, 
the verbs are both transitive, though the recipients of the actions are 
not specified. But do we necessarily mean this? If the verbs signify 
that he merely threw his legs and arms about in the fruitless endeavour 
to reach an object, kicked and scratched are not transitive verbs here any 
more than walked or ran would be, though they become so, if we 
suppose that an object is implied. 

138. As we shall have occasion to make frequent 
mention of the word Object in connexion with Transitive 
Verbs, the reader must notice that this term has unfor- 
tunately to do a double duty, standing sometimes for the 



136 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

thing affected by an action and sometimes for the word 
which represents this thing. The following definition may 
help the student to keep his mind clear of confusion arising 
from this ambiguity : 

The Object of a verb is the word which stands 
for the thing which is the object of the action 
denoted by the verb. 

It would be a concise description of a Transitive 
Verb to say that it is a Verb that can take an Object. 

139. Intransitive Verbs are used as Transitives 
in these ways: 

i. A verb, usually intransitive, is occasionally employed 
with a transitive force: 

Ordinarily Intransitive. Used Transitively. 

The horse walks. I walked my horse. 

I will run there. I will run the boat aground. 

The ship floats. He floated the ship. 

Birds fly. The boys are flyi ng their kites. 

The mother rejoiced. The mother rejoiced her son's heart. 

2. Prepositions following Intransitive Verbs 
may be regarded as forming with them compound verbs 
which are Transitive. Thus 'I laughed (intrans.) at 
him/ where the preposition at takes an objective case him, 
becomes 'I laughed-at (transitive) him/ where the him 
is the object of the verb. The passive construction can 
then be employed, and we can say ' He was laughed-at/ 
So, ' We arrived at this conclusion ' becomes in the' passive 
'This conclusion was arrived-at ' : 'They came to this 
decision ' becomes ' This decision was come-to.' 

3. Prepositions prefixed to some Intransitive 
Verbs make them Transitive. Thus the intransitive 
lie becomes the transitive overlie ; stand, understand; run, 
outrun ; weep, beweep ; moan, bemoan. 



VERBS. 137 

4. From a few Intransitive Verbs, Transitive deriva- 
tives are formed called Causatives, signifying to cause 
or produce the action indicated by the original verb: thus 
from sit we obtain set, meaning to 'make to sit'; from 
lie, lay; from fall, fell; from rise, raise) from drink, drench. 

The student must be on his guard against supposing 
that an Intransitive is Transitive whenever a noun follows 
it. A noun of kindred meaning to that of the verb accom- 
panies many Intransitives, not as an object but as an ad- 
verbial modification. In Latin Grammar this construction 
is called the Cognate Accusative: ludum ludere, 'to 
play a game,' vitatn vivere, 'to live one's life/ are ex- 
amples in both languages. 'To run a race/ 'to walk 
a mile/ 'to dream a dream/ 'to fight a good fight/ 'to 
sleep the sleep of death ' are illustrations of this construc- 
tion. We describe these nouns as Cognate Objectives. 

140. Conversely, some Transitive Verbs are used 
Intransitively. Compare the following: 

Transitive. Intransitive. 

He broke the glass. The glass broke. 

They moved the chair. The chair moved. 

I slammed the door. The door slammed. 

He opened the lid. The lid opened. 

The sun melted the snow. The snow melted. 

We reformed the criminal. The criminal reformed. 

Some waiters regard these intransitive uses as apparent 
rather than real, and consider the verbs to be Reflexives 
with an object itself understood. 

14L Verbs of Incomplete Predication. Many 
intransitive verbs make no sense as predicates, unless they 
are followed by some noun, adjective, or verb in the infinitive 
mood. To say ' He is/ ' They can/ ' We became/ ' You 
will/ ' She seems/ is meaningless until we add some word 
to complete the sense. Thus we give significance to these 



138 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

incomplete assertions, if we say 'He is good/ 'He is captain/ 
' He is killed,' ' He is come/ ' They can speak French/ 
'We became rich/ 'We became partners/ 'You will win/ 
' She seems vexed/ Such verbs are called Verbs of Incom- 
plete Predication, and the word or words which are added 
to make sense are called the Complement of the Predicate. 
The verbs grow, look, feel, in some of their uses are intran- 
sitives of this kind. 

Certain transitive verbs require, always or in some of 
their uses, a similar complement. If we say 'The king 
made a treaty/ the sense is complete : but if we say ' The 
king made Walpole/ the sense is incomplete until we add 
the complement 'a peer/ or 'angry/ or 'continue minister.' 
The verb ' called ' is a complete predicate in the sentence 
' The master called his valet/ meaning ' summoned him to 
his presence': it is an incomplete predicate if it signifies 
'applied a name to him/ until the name is added; 'The 
master called his valet a thief/ or 'lazy'. 'I think you' 
requires 'a genius/ 'a fool/ 'clever/ 'mad/ to complete the 
sense. 

The name Neuter is applied in some books to Intransi- 
tive verbs generally, in others to Intransitive verbs of incom- 
plete predication. As there is this ambiguity in its meaning, 
the best course is to dispense with its use altogether. 

142. Auxiliary and Notional Verbs. When we 
come to the conjugation of the verb, we shall see that most 
of the different forms are made by means of other verbs, 
which are therefore called Auxiliaries (from Lat. auxilium, 
'help/ because they help to conjugate the verb). The 
different parts of the verbs be, have, will, shall, may, are 
employed as Auxiliaries, and when so employed are the 
substitutes for inflexions of which in our English conjugation 
very few survive. Thus ' I shall have written ' is in Latin 
expressed in one inflected form, scripsero, ' you were being 
loved/ amabaminu 



VERBS. 139 

But the verbs have, will, shall, may, possess meanings 
of their own which are dropped when the words are 
used as auxiliaries. ' He will do it ' may mean ' He is 
determined to do it,' as well as 'He is going to do it/ 
In the former case will is not an auxiliary, in the latter it is. 
Have signifies possess when I say * I have a bicycle,' but it is 
merely auxiliary when I say ' I have lost my bicycle.' May 
means permission in ' You may try if you like;' it is auxi- 
liary when we say ' You won't find out, though you may try 
your best.' Verbs which are used with a meaning of their 
own, and not merely as substitutes for inflexions in the 
conjugation of other verbs, are called Notional Verbs. 

143. An Impersonal Verb is one in which the 
source of the action is not expressed. 

A true Impersonal Verb therefore has no subject. Only 
two examples of true Impersonals occur in modern Eng- 
lish, methinks and meseems, and these belong to the diction 
of rhetoric rather than to every-day speech. Me is a dative 
case : hence it cannot be the subject. The meaning of the 
two Impersonals is the same, viz. ' It seems to me.' Thinks 
in methinks comes from the Old English thynkan, 'to 
seem,' which was a different verb from thencan, ' to think/ 

'It rains/ 'it freezes/ and similar expressions are com- 
monly called Impersonal, but they have a grammatical 
subject, it. If we are asked however, 'What rains?' 
'What freezes?' we cannot specify the thing for which 
the // stands: the grammatical subject represents no real 
source of the action. 



i 4 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



Questions. 

i. Write sentences to illustrate the transitive use of the following 
verbs : — * We are resting.' — ' Don't push.' — * How you squeeze ! ' — 
' Forty feeding like one.' — * They are pressing for payment.' — ' The 
shadows lengthen.' — 'The days draw in.' — 'Times change.' — ' How it 
pours ! ' — ' The meat will keep.' — ' We mean to remove next spring.' — 
' The king recovered.' 

2. Write sentences to show that the following verbs may be used 
both transitively and intransitively : — strike, shake, stop, roll, boil, survive, 
wake, burst, upset, grow. 

3. Distinguish the terms Transitive, Intransitive, Active, Passive. 
State which of these terms you would apply to the verbs in the 

following sentences respectively, and point out any peculiarities of con- 
struction: — they are arrived, they ran a race, he overeats himself, the book 
is selling well, he swam the river, he lay down. 

4. Refer to its class (as Transitive, Intransitive, Verb of Incomplete 
Predication, Impersonal, Notional or Auxiliary) each Verb in the 
following sentences: — 'It will rain tomorrow.' — 'I will do it my own 
way.' — ' They will not succeed.' — ' You may call if you like, but he 
may not be at home/ — 'He feels his way.' — 'He feels ill.' — 'The 
bonnet became a hat.' — 'The bonnet became the lady.' — 'You shall 
not go out.' — ' We shall not go out.' — ' He grows barley.' — c He grows 
stout. ' 

5. Give instances of verbs which can be used (1) both transitively 
and intransitively, (2) both as complete predicates and as incomplete. 



141 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Inflexions of Verbs. 

144. Verbs undergo changes of form to mark differ- 
ences of Voice, Mood, Tense, Number, Person. 

As inflexions have almost entirely disappeared from 
English verbs, we have recourse to auxiliary verbs and 
pronouns to express these differences. Amaverimus, ama- 
bimur are inflexions of the Latin verb amo : we shall have 
loved, we shall be loved, their English equivalents, are not 
inflexions of the verb love; the required changes in the 
meaning of the verb are effected by the use of auxiliaries. 
Amo has over a hundred of these inflexions : love has seven, 
viz., love, lovest, loves, loveth, loved, lovedst, loving, and of 
these seven, the three forms lovest, loveth, lovedst, are no 
longer employed in ordinary speech. 

Voice is the form of a verb which shows 
whether the subject of the sentence stands for 
the doer or for the object of the action expressed 
by the verb. 

Mood is the form of a verb which shows the 
mode or manner in which the action is repre- 
sented. 

Tense is the form of a verb which shows the 
time at which the action is represented as occur- 



i 4 2 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

ring and the completeness or incompleteness of 
the action. 

Number is the form of a verb which shows 
whether we are speaking of one thing or of more 
than one. 

Person is the form of a verb which shows 
whether the subject of the sentence stands for 
the speaker, for the person addressed, or for 
some other thing. 

We shall treat of these modifications of the verb in 
order. 

145. I. Voice. 

In English there are two Voices, an Active and a 
Passive Voice. 

The Active Voice is that form of a verb 
which shows that the subject of the sentence 
stands for the doer of the action expressed by the 
verb. 

The Passive Voice is that form of a verb 
which shows that the subject of the sentence 
stands for the object of the action expressed by 
the verb. 

Thus in ' Brutus stabbed Caesar/ Brutus, the subject 
of the sentence, represents the doer or agent of the act of 
stabbing expressed by the verb : stabbed is in the active 
voice. In ' Caesar was stabbed by Brutus/ Caesar, the 
subject of the sentence, represents the object or recipient 
of the act of stabbing : was stabbed is in the passive voice. 

Now as the subject of the sentence, when the verb is in 
the passive, stands for the object or receiver of the action, 
it is clear that, unless the action denoted by the verb 
passes on to some object, the passive construction will be 
impossible. Accordingly, only Transitive verbs admit 
of a passive use. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 143 

The parts of the auxiliary verb be are used with the 
perfect participle of a transitive verb to form the passive 
voice: ' I am injured/ 'You were beaten/ ' He is captured/ 
1 They will be assisted/ ' We have been turned out.' 

146. The reader may easily be misled by such forms as 
'I am come/ 'You are arrived/ 'He is gone,' 'They are 
fallen/ in which the verbs are intransitive, and their perfect 
tenses therefore are not passive, though they look as if they 
were. In 'I am injured/ 'You were beaten/ the participles 
injured and beaten are passive : in ' I am come/ ' You are 
arrived/ the participles come and arrived are active. There 
is a slight difference of meaning between the forms ' He 
is arrived/ ' He is gone ' and ' He has arrived/ ' He has 
gone/ ' He has gone ' lays stress on the action, ' He is 
gone' calls attention to the fact that he continues in a 
certain state, namely that of absence. We can say ' He has 
come and gone/ but not ' He is come and gone/ as is 
becomes unsuitable in connexion with come, when he no 
longer continues here, but is gone. 

147. Verbs which take a double object admit of 
two forms of passive construction according as one 
object or the other is made the subject of the passive verb. 
A few illustrations will make this clear. 

Active. Passive. 

u , m . f A story was told me by him. 

He told me a story. \ J , , . 

I I was told a story by him. 

You granted him J Permission was granted him by you. 
permission. \ He was granted permission by you. 

They awarded him f A prize was awarded him by them. 
a prize. \ He was awarded a prize by them. 

The reader may construct further illustrations for him- 
self, using the verbs promise, ask, refuse, show, offer, forgive, 
for the purpose. 



i 4 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The secondary forms, in which the Indirect Object, 
originally in the dative case, becomes the subject, are harsh 
in sound and illogical in their nature, but there is much of 
laisser-aller, or ' go-as-you-please/ about English syntax, and 
we find such expressions even in good writers. 

This object after the passive verb is called the Retained 
Object. Whether it is the Direct or the Indirect Object 
that is thus retained the reader can easily determine, by 
shifting the position of the two objects in the equivalent 
sentence expressed in the active voice and noticing which 
of the two requires a preposition when it comes last. The 
object which requires a preposition is the Indirect Object. 
So, ' I forgive you your fault/ becomes ' I forgive your fault 
to you'; 'I will allow you your expenses,' 'I will allow your 
expenses to you ' ; ' I have got you the book/ ' I have got 
the book for you/ In each example you is the Indirect 
Object. 

148. There is a curious use of certain transitive verbs 
in the active form with a passive meaning. In Latin 
Grammar, verbs of active form and passive meaning are 
called Quasi-passive: vapulo, 'I am beaten/ exulo, 'I 
am banished/ are examples. Some of our English Quasi- 
passive verbs express sensations : we say of a thing that 
it i feels soft, tastes nice, smells sweet/ whereas it is really 
we who feel, taste, and smell the thing. In like manner 
we say that a sentence ' reads badly/ that a book 'sells 
well/ and that a house ' lets readily.' 

149. II. Mood. 

The Moods, or changes of form assumed by a verb to 
show the different ways in which the action is thought of, 
are four in number : 

(i) The Indicative Mood contains the forms used (i) 
to make statements of fact, (2) to ask questions, 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 145 

and (3) to express suppositions in which the events 
are treated as if they were facts. 

(ii) The Imperative Mood contains the form used to 
give commands. 

(iii) The Subjunctive Mood contains the forms used 
to represent actions or states conceived as possible or 
contingent, but not asserted as facts. 

(iv) The Infinitive Mood is the form which denotes 
actions or states without reference to person, number, 
or time. 

150. (i) Uses of the Indicative Mood. The 

Indicative Mood is used (1) to state facts; 'The man stole 
the watch,' 'He will be punished': (2) to ask questions; 
'Which man stole the watch?' 'Will he be punished?' 
(3) to express suppositions in which the conditions are 
dealt with as if they were facts; c If it is fine to-morrow 
(the condition may be fulfilled, or it may not, but assuming 
that as a fact it is,) we will go for a pic-nic.' 

151. (ii) Use of the Imperative Mood. Com- 
mands must be addressed to the person who is to obey them. 
The person addressed is the second person. Accordingly 
the Imperative Mood can be used only in the second 
person singular and plural. Such expressions as 'Go we 
forth together,' or ' Let us go forth together,' in which we 
utter a wish or exhortation respecting the first person, are 
not instances of the Imperative mood : they are substitutes 
for it. Go we is subjunctive : let us go is a circumlocution, 
or roundabout form of expression, which contains an im- 
perative of let in the second person and an infinitive go : 
expanded it becomes you let, or allow (imperative) us 
(object) go, or to go (infinitive). 

152. A tense which is expressed by a single word is 
called a Simple Tense : a tense which is expressed by the 
help of an auxiliary verb is called a Compound Tense. 

w. e. g. 10 



146 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

English verbs contain only two simple tenses in the Indica- 
tive and Subjunctive moods, namely, the Present and the 
Past Indefinite. The verb to be possesses a fairly complete 
set of distinct forms in the two tenses of these moods, but 
in other verbs a difference of inflexion is seen only in the 
2nd and 3rd persons singular of the present subjunctive 
as compared with the indicative. Now as the 2nd person 
singular is used to-day exclusively in the language of 
prayer and of poetry, the difference of form between the 
indicative and the subjunctive mood can be detected in 
ordinary speech only in the 3rd person singular of the 
present tense, so long as we confine ourselves to the simple 
tenses. Thou stealest, He steals, are indicative forms : If 
thou steal, if he steal, are subjunctive forms. But as we 
no longer employ thou in the language of every-day life, the 
sum-total of inflexional differences in the simple tenses, 
according as the mood is indicative or subjunctive, is 
represented by the forms he steals and if he steal 

153. The student should make a careful study of the 
tenses conjugated below : 









To Be 






To Steal 






Indicative 


Subjunctive 


Indicative Subjunctive 




Present 


Past 


Present 


Past 


Prese?it Past 


Present 


ji- 




am 


was 


be 


were 


steal stole 


steal 


ing. \ 2. 




art 


wast 


be 


wert 


stealest stolest 


steal 


u 




is 


was 


be 


were 


steals stole 


steal 


'lur. 1, 2, 


3- 


are 


. were 


be 


were 


steal stole 


steal 



There are no separate forms for a Past Tense in the 
subjunctive of any verb except the verb to be. Conse- 
quently, to illustrate the uses of the subjunctive we have 
recourse to this verb. In other verbs the inflexions are 
reduced to two, one of which, as we said, has no place in 
ordinary speech, while the use of the other is passing away 
from modern English. The subjunctive mood has decayed 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 147 

till it is almost dead. It is really alive only in the Past 
Subjunctive of the verb to be, especially in its 1st person 
singular. A speaker who employed the Present Subjunctive 
of to be, and said, quite correctly, 'If 1 be there, I shall see 
him/ would be supposed by many people of average educa- 
tion, (unless their education had included the facts of 
English Grammar,) to be making the same blunder as a 
labourer makes when he says 'I be here; I be just going 
home/ Let the reader ask himself whether he would be 
more likely to say ' I shall play tennis this afternoon, if it be 
fine/ subjunctive, or 'if it is fine,' indicative: 'I shall stay 
in, if it rain] subjunctive, or *if it rains, 1 indicative. There 
is a quaint formalism about the employment of the subjunc- 
tive which makes us avoid it in every- day conversation. 

154. (iii) Uses of the Subjunctive Mood. There 
are cases however in which we still use the subjunctive mood, 
and there are other cases in which its use would be legiti- 
mate, though it has been ousted from its place by the indi- 
cative. We still say ' If I were you,' not i If I was you/ 
and we ought to say ' If he were you/ though ' If he was 
you' is to be heard quite as often. Of these actual or 
possible uses a book on Grammar must take cognisance. 

The Subjunctive Mood may be employed to express 

(1) a wish : ' O that I were dead ! ' ' Perish idolatry ! ' 
' God save the Queen ! ' or an exhortation : 'Go we forth/ 
'Tell me he that knows.' This latter use of the subjunctive 
is almost obsolete, even in poetry. We should now say 
'Let us go/ 'Let him tell/ 

(2) a purpose : ' Work lest thou lose the prize/ 'Mind 
that the letter be written.' 

(3) uncertainty : * I'll tell him so, whoever he be? 

(4) supposition : ' If I were you, I would go.' 

There is thus a scarcity of inflected forms in the Subjunctive, and we 
manifest a growing reluctance to use those which we still possess. Of 

IQ z 



148 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

the ten or twelve tenses with which the Subjunctive mood is credited in 
the Conjugation of an Active Verb, as set out in many works on English 
Grammar, some are identical in form with the tenses of the Indicative, 
and others which differ, differ only in the form of the auxiliary. If we are 
asked whether any particular tense-form, which is identical in appear- 
ance in both moods, is subjunctive or indicative in a certain context, the 
answer will be suggested, if we substitute for the tense-form in question 
an equivalent expression compounded with the verb to be, as the verb to 
be marks the difference between subjunctive and indicative by a varia- 
tion in its inflexions. Thus, suppose we wish to determine the mood of 
spoke, in ' The master asked who spoke'; if we convert spoke into was 
speaking we see that the mood is indicative. Again, supposing we are 
asked the mood of told, in ' I should not believe him even if he told the 
truth,' if told '= was telling, the mood is indicative, if told '= were telling, 
the mood is subjunctive. Similarly, 'I could do it if I liked" 1 resolves 
itself into ' I were able to do it if I were willing ' : it would be impossible 
to replace could by was able, so we may say that could is used with the 
force of the subjunctive here; but as 'if I liked' might be replaced by 
either '•were willing' or i was willing,' we may regard liked either as 
subjunctive or as indicative. 

155. Finite and Infinite forms of the Verb. 

Thus far we have dealt with those parts of the verb which 
are called finite. When we say 'I ran/ the action expressed 
by the verb is limited in various ways. Thus it is limited 
as regards number \ it is one person who ran. It is limited 
as regards person • it is /, not thou nor he, that ran. It is 
limited as regards the time when the running took place ; 
the running is not occurring now, nor is it going to occur in 
the future ; it occurred in the past. A verb, with the action 
which it denotes thus limited or restricted as regards person, 
number, and time, is said to be a finite verb, because 
finite means 'limited,' 'bounded/ 'restricted/ (from Latin 
fines ■, ' boundaries '). 

Now the verb can also be used in various forms without 
these limitations, and it will then express merely the idea of 
the action (or state) without denoting that the action is done 
by one agent or by more than one, or by any particular 
agent at all, or at any particular time 1 . These forms belong 

1 On this point see Question 28 at the end of this chapter. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 149 

to what is called the Verb Infinite, that is to say, the verb 
unlimited, unrestricted, unbounded. 

156. The Verb Infinite contains the Infinitive 
Mood, the Gerund, the Verbal Noun, and the Parti- 
ciples. 

(iv) The Infinitive Mood commonly occurs in modem 
English with to before it, but there are many verbs which 
are followed by an infinitive without to : the verbs may, can, 
shall, will, must, let, do ; verbs expressing sensation, see, 
hear, feel, need) and the verbs make and dare are examples. 
Thus we say ' I may, can, shall, will, must do it,' not ' to do 
it': 'Let him do it,' not ' to do it' : 'You do think so/ not 
' to think so': 'We saw, heard, and felt it shake] not ' to 
shake' : 'They made him tell,' not 'to telV : 'You need not 
go, 1 not 'to go" \ 'I dare say this/ though the to is admissible 
here, ' I dare to say this.' But after several of these verbs 
in the passive, to is inserted : ' He was seen to take it and 
made to return it. 7 

The Infinitive mood is equivalent to a Noun. 
It resembles a noun in this respect, that it can be used 
as the subject or object of a verb: 

' To read improves the mind ' : to read is here subject. 

' He likes to read" : to read is here object. 

The infinitive resembles a noun in this respect also, that 
it can follow certain prepositions: *I want nothing 
except to live quietly/ ' He has no hope but to escape 
punishment/ 'You care for nothing save to make money.' 

157. Simple and Gerundial Infinitive. In an earlier stage of the 
language, to was not used with the simple infinitive any more than it is 
now used with infinitives which follow the verbs mentioned above. The 
infinitive had an inflexion which showed what part of the verb it was, 
and the preposition to was prefixed to the dative case of this infinitive in 
order to mark purpose. Thus in T came to see him/ where to signifies 
'in order to' and expresses purpose, see would have appeared in the 
dative with to prefixed in Old English, but in ' I wish to see him,' where 
to does not signify 'in order to' and no purpose is expressed, see would 



1 5 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

have appeared without to, in the objective case of the infinitive. We 
may still discriminate between these uses of the infinitive, though the 
inflexion has vanished, and the preposition to has been attached to the 
simple infinitive. When the infinitive is employed with the meaning 
that something is purposed to be done, or that it is fit or necessary to be 
done, and in cases in which the gerund preceded by to, for, or similar 
prepositions, would express the same meaning, we call it the Gerundial 
Infinitive. The following examples illustrate its use: 

'They came to tell me.' 'He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.' 
'He is much to be pitied.'' 'These troubles are hard to bear,'' 'These 
troubles are hard to be borne.'' 'This is sad to tell.' 'Here is water 
to drink.' 'I have a house to let and a horse to sell' 

158. Verbal Forms in -ing. We now come to 
the forms in -ing, which are a cause of great perplexity to 
beginners. Beginners are disposed to describe every form 
in -ing as a present participle. We shall here deal with 
these forms as we find them existing at the present day 
and shall give them such names as are in keeping with the 
functions which they perform in modern English. And 
this we shall do without touching upon any questions 
connected with their origin and history 1 . 

Let us take the sentence — 

(i) ' To healths sick is a noble work. 1 

In what other ways can we make this assertion, employ- 
ing some form in -ing of the verb heal for our subject and 
leaving the rest of the sentence unchanged ? 

We can say — 

(2) c The healing of the sick is a noble work, 9 — and 

(3) ' Healing the sick is a noble work.' 

And whether we say to heal, or the healing of, or healing, 
the meaning is the same as if we said ' The cure of the sick.' 

1 For the historical aspect of the subject the student is referred to 
my Key to Questions, p. 61, Q. 19. Our modern Verbal forms in -ing 
were originally either Verbal Nouns or Present Participles : they were 
never Infinitives, Simple or Gerundial. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 151 

Now cure is a noun. So it is clear that these various forms 
of the verb heal are equivalent to nouns. We have seen 
that to heal is the simple infinitive. In the healing of healing 
is evidently a noun : it takes the article before it, and it is 
followed by a noun dependent on it in the possessive case. 
Thus only healing in the third sentence remains for con- 
sideration. What are we to call it ? 

(a) Some say a noun. But is it exactly like an ordi- 
nary noun? No, for it takes an objective case after it 
instead of being followed by a possessive. 

(b) Some say an infinitive. ' Healing the sick' means 
just the same as ' to heal the sick ' ; ' to heal ' is infinitive, 
therefore healing is infinitive. 

(c) Some say a gerund. The Gerund in Latin grammar 
is a verbal noun, occurring in certain cases, and possessing 
this peculiarity that, although a noun, it governs another 
noun, just as the verb from which it is formed governs a 
noun. This description seems to agree very well with the 
character of the word healing when we say \ Healing the 
sick is a noble work/ for healing is followed by the sick 
in the objective case. 

Now if a person chooses to call heali7ig in this context 
an Infinitive, or a Noun, or a Gerund, he is at liberty to 
do so, and it really is a matter of small importance which 
name he selects ; for the Infinitive is a noun, and the Gerund 
is a noun. But as we already have two forms of the Infini- 
tive with to on our hands, there is an advantage in not 
pressing the name * Infinitive ' into service to describe the 
form in -ing. And as we already have another form of the 
verbal noun, with the before it and of after it, there is an 
advantage in refraining from calling this form in -ing also a 
noun ; so we may as well agree to call it a Gerund, and we 
will give its definition thus : 



iS2 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

A Gerund is a verbal noun in -ing which, when 
formed from a transitive verb, can take after it an 
object. 

159. Entirely different from all these noun-forms is the 
Participle in -ing. Participles are adjectives. To 
confound one of the preceding forms with a participle in 
-ing is to confound a noun with an adjective, a name of a 
thing with a word which limits the application of the name; 
and this is a very serious confusion indeed. 

A Participle is a verbal adjective. The active 
participle of a transitive verb differs from an ordinary 
adjective in taking an object. 

Thus in the sentence * I saw a doctor healing his 
patients/ healing refers to i doctor/ limiting the application 
of the name, and at the same time takes an object his 
patients ', just as the verb in its finite forms would take as an 
object his patients: e.g. ' He healed his patients.' 

Why are beginners inclined to describe every verbal form 
in -ing as a participle ? 

Because, as a fact, we do make use of a large 
number of present participles in the conjugation of our 
verbs. All the tenses expressing incomplete action are 
formed by the aid of this participle in -ing\ 1 1 am writing/ 
* You were speaking/ ' He will be waiting/ ' They will have 
been searching/ are examples, and the reader will realise on 
reflexion that they illustrate a very common form of ex- 
pression. Except in conjugating the imperfect tenses of 
our verbs, however, the participle in -ing is not largely used. 
Thus, though we might possibly~ say 4 Meeting Smith and 
hearing you were in town, I came to see you/ yet we should 
be more likely to say * I met Smith and heard you were in 
town, so I have come to see you/ 

The Participle in -ing is an active participle. It is 
usually called the Present Participle, and we shall give it 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 153 

this name, though it would be more p roperly termed th e 

Imperfect or Incom plete Participl e, as it denotes not time 
bat unfinished action, — action still in progress : writing, 
healing. 

Our other Participle is the Perfect Participle, denoting 
action which is completed and no longer in progress. This 
is usually called the Past Participle, and we shall employ 
the ordinary though less accurate name for it. It ends in 
-eji+^ZL^Jteaten, s AQWJlx. 9l^i^,:4x,~L M&I&i* kved^ jlegf. If 
the verb is a transitive verb, this Participle is passive. 

160. Notice these points connected with the Participles: 
(i) The Passive Participle combined with the verb have 

forms tenses of the active verb : thus, ' He has stolen the 
watch/ * I had eaten my dinner/ The explanation of the 
construction is this : ' He has stolen the watch ' was once 
expressed thus, ' He has (or holds, or possesses) the watch 
stolen/ stolen being originally in agreement with ivatch. So, 
1 1 had eaten my dinner' was once ' I had (or held, or pos- 
sessed) my dinner eaten/ Then came a time when the real 
force of have in this connexion was lost, its notional mean- 
ing disappeared, and it became a mere auxiliary, so that no 
contradiction was apparent, as it would formerly have been 
apparent, in saying ' I have lost my watch/ though it is 
obvious that, if the watch is lost, we cannot correctly, say 
i I have (or hold, or possess) my watch lost/ as in such a 
case I hold or possess it no longer. 

(ii) We have adopted this use of have with the Past 
Participle of intransitive verbs, and we say * I have^been/ 
4 1 havejjtood/ 'I have dreamt/ 'I have slept/ though we 
cannot say ' I am been/ ' I am stood/ ' I am dreamt/ ■ I 
am slept/ The Participle of intransitive verbs is Perfect, 
or Past, but it is not Passive. 

161. The results of this discussion of the Verb Infinite 
may be summarized in a convenient form thus : 



i54 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

(i. Simple Infinitive : 



The forms 

of the Verb 

Infinite 

are 



i 

3. Verbal Noun with the... of... 



/with 

2. Gerundial Infinitive marking Purpose: 



/Nouns - 



\m -ing-i 

I4. Gerund. 

(1. Present Participle Active in -ing. 
Adjectives \ 

(2. Past Participle in -en, -n, -ed> -d, -t. 



162. Illustrations of these forms. 

1. Simple Infinitive : * To work hard is the way to get^ on.' * I can 
go. ' * We heard him call. ' ' Better dwell in the midst of alarms 

'Than reign in this horrible place.' 

1. Gerundial Infinitive : 'The sower went forth to sow. 1 ' Bread to 
eat? i.e. 'for eating.' 'Ears to hear, i.e. 'for hearing.' 

3. Verbal Noun: 'They brought flowers for the decorating of the 
altar.' ' The writing ^/"the book was a protracted task.' ' The hunting 
of the fox is a national pastime. ' 

4. Gerund: * Seeing is believing? 'Seeing a conjuror is one thing 
and believing him is another.' 'I am fond of seeing a. conjuror.' 'We 
were prevented from seeing the conjuror.' 'They asked about seeing 
the conjuror.' 

5. The Participle in -Ing. 'The company sat watching the 
conjuror performing his tricks.' 'They are watching the conjuror.' 
'Seeing the conjuror there, I wejgi in.' 

6. The Participle in -en, -d, -t. ' This is stolen.' ■ He has stolen 
it.' 'This is mended? 'He has mended it? 

Compound Gerund Forms. It should be noticed that we use com- 
binations of the Gerunds of the verbs have and be with Participles, as we 
use the simple Gerunds: the following are examples of these compound 
gerund forms: 'I was afraid of his having gone away.' 'The master 
charged him with having been wasting his time.' ' My having been 
struck explains my being exasperated.' 

Observe that in compound nouns the form in -ing is frequently 
gerundive. Thus a walking-stick is a stick for walking y a fishing-rod is 
a rod for fishing. If these forms in -ing were participles, a walking-stick 
would be a stick that walked and a fishing-rod a rod that fished, just as 
a talking-fish is a fish that talks and a laughmg-hycena a hyaena that 
laughs. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 



155 



163. III. Tense. 

Tense marks (i) the time at which we represent jm 
action as occurring. Now time is either Present, Past, or 
Future. So far therefore as the time alone of an action is 
taken into account, we shall have three Tenses : / write, I 
wrote, I shall write. 

But tense marks not only the time at which the action is 
described as occurring, but also (ii) its completeness or 
incompleteness at that time. An action must be either 
finished, done, completed, perfect, at any particular time, or 
it must be unfinished, not yet done, incomplete, imperfect, 
still in progress, at that time. But though the action itself 
must be either finished or not finished, we may speak of it 
without reference to its character as finished or 
not finished, and our mention of the action in this aspect 
will then be undetermined or indefinite. 

Hence, as we may indicate that an action belongs to 
present, past, or future time, and may also describe it at 
each of those times (1) as in a finished condition, or (2) as 
in a progressive condition, or (3) may leave the fact of its 
being already finished or still in progress undetermined or 
indefinite, we shall have nine distinct tenses in which these 
differences are expressed. The following table presents 
these nine Primary Tenses in an intelligible form. 



Time 


Imperfect, Incomplete, 

Unfinished, Progressive, 

Continuous 


Perfect, Complete, 
Finished 


Indefinite 


Present 

Past 

Future 


I am writing 
I was writing 
I shall be writing 


I have written 
i had written 
I shall have written 


I write 
I wrote 
I shall write 



156 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



164. Remarks on the Tenses, 

i. The Perfect Continuous Tenses. There is an additional set of 
tenses, by which we indicate that an action has been, had been, or will 
have been going on, and also that it still is, was, or will continue to be, 
in progress. Thus we may say 'I have been writing all the morning,' 
which signifies that my writing has been going on in the past and is not 
yet over but still continues. *I have written all the morning' would 
imply that my writing was now completed or done. Similarly, ' I had 
been waiting an hour when he met me ' means that my waiting was still 
in progress and had lasted some time when he arrived. *I shall have 
been travelling for six hours when I reach Bristol ' means that my 
journey will have lasted for six hours and will not yet be finished when 
I arrive at Bristol. These tenses are called — 

Present Perfect Continuous . . I have beenjvriting 
Past Perfect Continuous ... I had been writing 
Future Pe7fect_£ontinuous . , I shaTTh ave been writing 

2. Other so-called Tenses. We may have occasion to describe an 
action as about to, feegin, and to do this may use the ver b g o in combination 
with the principal verb, and say ' I am going to write. ' In some books 
on grammar, *I am going to write,' 'I was going to write,' *I shall be 
going to write,' are called Intentional Tenses, or Paulo-post -future 
Tenses. They are however not tenses at all. Compound Tenses are 
formed only by the assistance of the auxiliary verbs, and go is not an 
auxiliary verb. We express an action as on the point of be gin ning 
equally well when we say * I am about to write, ' but no one proposes 
to call this form of expression a tense. In Latin there was a class of 
derivative verbs called Inceptives, which marked the fact of the com- 
mencement of an action by their suffix -sco: e.g. pallesco, 'I turn pale,' 
calesco, 'I grow warm,' silvescit, 'it runs to wood.' The verbs turn, 
grow, run, in these connections express the beginning of the act, but we 
do not regard them as contributing to the formation of Inceptive tenses. 

On similar grounds we must reject the so-called Emphatic Tenses 
formed by using the verb do : 'I do think so,' 'He did say that,' 'Do 
tell me.' 

3. Modes of Tense Formation. With the exception of the Present 
Indefinite and the Past Indefinite, all our tenses are formed by the use 
of auxiliaries. The Past Indefinite undergoes inflexion to mark the 
change of time: 'I wrote,' *I walked.' It is sometimes called the 
Preterite, or Aorist. 

A glance down the columns of Imperfect and of Perfect Tenses will 
enable the reader to see the principle on which these tenses are formed. 
The Imperfect Tenses are formed by combining some part of be with 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 157 

the Present Participle. The Perfect Tenses are formed by combining 
some part of have with the Past Participle. 

The Future tenses are formed by the verbs shall and will with the 
infinitive mood. 

4. Perfect and Imperfect. The student must be careful to under- 
stand that the words Perfect and Imperfect refer to the character of the 
action as regards completeness, and not to its time. In the Latin Gram- 
mar he finds amabam described as •Imperfect,' and as amabam means 
*I was loving' he gets the notion that an Imperfect Tense is necessarily 
a Past Tense. Again, amavi is called •Perfect,' and one of the ren- 
derings given of it is 'I loved'; hence he gets the notion that a Perfect 
Tense is necessarily a Past Tense. Now Perfectum means 'finished,' 
'completed' : Imperfectum means 'unfinished,' 'incomplete.' 

To gain a clear conception of this distinction, let us suppose that a 
boy walks from one side of the room to the other. How should we 
describe his action? We should say 'He is walking across the room': 
the action is in progress: it is unfinished, or Imperfect. But it is going 
on at this moment and is therefore rightly described as Present Im- 
perfect. When he has finished walking across the room, we say • He 
has reached the other side,' 'He has walked across the room.' Does 
this necessarily imply that the action is past? As soon as the action is 
finished, it is certainly past. But in saying ' He has reached the other 
side,' we are thinking rather that he is there now, than that the action 
belongs to past time. The action is ended, but it is only just ended, and 
its consequences continue present with us. If the action and its conse- 
quences are over and done with, the Perfect Tense is no longer appro- 
priate. We should not say" 7 ! have written a letter last week,' but 'I 
wrote a letter': the action took place some time ago. 'I have written 
a letter' signifies that my letter has just now been completed, and here 
it is. 

5. Advantages of our Mode of Tense Formation. By the aid of 

auxiliary verbs, we are able to express distinctions of time and complete- 
ness with a minuteness and accuracy to which other languages are 
unable to attain. Amat in Latin means both 'he loves' and 'he is 
loving': amavi means 'I have loved,' which is Present Perfect, and 'I 
loved,' which is Past Indefinite, or Aorist. 

6. The Uses of the Present Indefinite should be noted : 

(1) This tense occasionally expresses an action going on at the 
present time, but it does this very rarely: 'How fast it rains V 'He 
wins in a canter,' *The kettle boils ^ Generally we should use the 
Present Imperfect even in such expressions as these, and in most cases 
it would be impossible to employ the Present Indefinite to denote an 
action in progress at the present time. W T e say •What are you writingV 



158 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

not 'What do you write!'' 'I am writing my exercise,' not ' I write my 
exercise.' 

(2) It expresses an action which is habitual, as ' He goes to town 
every morning,' and a general truth, as * Water boils at 212 .' 

(3) It expresses a future action, as ' I go to town next week/ 

(4) It expresses a past action in graphic narrative. 'The Greeks 
maintain their ranks; the Persians press on; Leonidas falls ^ and the 
battle rages fiercely.' This is called the Historic Present: it gives a 
vivid representation of an occurrence, and is frequently used in the 
conversation of persons of lively imagination. 

(5) It introduces quotations: 'Shakespeare says^ 'Xenophon de- 
scribes? 'The Bible tells us,' 'Montaigne remarks,' 1 

165. IV. Number. 

There are two numbers in verbs. When the subject 
of the verb is in the singular, the verb is in the singular; 
when the subject is in the plural, the verb is in the plural. 

166. V. Person. 

Although we have an inflexion marking the Second 
Personal Singular, lov-est, loved-st, these forms occur only in 
the language of prayer and of poetry, not in ordinary 
speech. 

The form of the Third Person Singular Present Indica- 
tive, lov-ethy is also obsolete in conversation and is used 
only when an archaic diction is employed for the purpose of 
solemnity, real or affected. The suffix -s is the only inflexion 
of Person which survives in common use. 

The Personal endings were originally Personal Pro- 
nouns. The suffix of the First Person, -m, is still visible in 
a-m. This -m is the m of me. Compare the Latin suw, 
amew. 

To trace the Pronouns in their disguises as endings 
of the Second and Third Persons Singular of the verb 
would lead us into very obscure by-paths of philology. 
The reader must pursue this inquiry at a later time. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS, 159 

167. Weak and Strong Verbs. According to their 
mode of forming the Past Tense, verbs are called Weak or 
Strong. 

A 'Weak Verb is one which forms its Past Tense by 
adding -ed, -d, or -/, to the present : walked, loved ', dreamt. 

A Strong Verb is one which forms its Past Tense by 
change of vowel and without the addition of a suffix. 

The Past Participle of a Weak Verb is of the same form 
as the Past Tense : / walked, (I have) walked. 

The Past Participle of a Strong Verb (1) sometimes ends 
in -en, (2) sometimes has a different modification of the 
vowel from that of the Past Tense, and (3) sometimes is of 
the same form as the Past Tense: I drove, (I have) driven \ 
I sprang, (I have) sprung ; I stood, (I have) stood. 

168. Suppose that a verb forms its Past Tense in -d or -/ and also 
changes its vowel : are we to call it Weak or Strong? 

In such a case, look at the Past Participle. If this is formed in -en, 
then probably the verb is Strong. But if it is not formed in -en, we can tell 
whether the verb is to be classed as Weak or Strong only by tracing it 
back to an earlier period and discovering how it was originally con- 
jugated. The safest practical guide is the formation of the Past Tense 
in -d or -t. Verbs with a Past Tense formed in this manner are with 
very few exceptions Weak Verbs. The following are however Strong 
Verbs, though their Past Tense ends in -d or -t, for this -d or 4 is in 
these instances a part of the present stem and not an inflexion of the 
past tense : beat, bid, bind, bite, burst, fight, find, get, grind, hold, let, 
shoot, seethe, sit, stand, spit, tread, wind 1 . 

169. The following points connected with these two conjugations 
deserve notice : 

(a) The verbs which belong to the Strong conjugation are old verbs 
and of English origin. All words newly introduced make their Past 
Tense and Past Participle in -ed, as telegraphed, boycotted. Many verbs 
once Strong have become wholly or partially Weak: cleave, cleft, cleft, 
was formerly cleave, clave> cloven ; shear, sheared, sheared, was formerly 
shear, shore, shorn. For a verb originally Weak to have become Strong 
is an exceedingly rare occurrence : wear and dig are examples of this 
unusual process. 

(b) Most of the Strong Verbs originally formed their Past Tense by 
reduplication ; we see this mode of formation at work in Latin perfects 

2 Gow's Method of English^ p. ii$. 



160 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

like te-tendi, tu-tudi, spo-pondi, fe-felli. The sole survival in modem 
English is the word did, past tense of do. The obsolete verb hight 
shows the same process of reduplication in the recurrence of the h. 
Hight means 'was called:' 'Barbican it hight 1 means 'It was called 
Barbican : ' ' This grisly beast, which by name Lion hight, ' means 'which 
was called Lion.' 

Strong Verbs are classified in seven conjugations. Those verbs 
whose past tenses indicate a process of reduplication at a remote period 
form one group, and the remaining verbs fall into six groups according 
to the character of their vowel changes. Taking a verb which is typical 
of each group, Dr Sweet names the seven conjugations as follows: 
(i) Reduplicative or Fall-class i (2) Shake-class : (3) Bind-class: 
(4) Bear-class : (5) Give-class : (6) Shine-class : (7) Choose-class. These 
classes may be easily remembered by Professor Skeat's couplet (quoted 
in Mr Nesfield's English Grammar, p. 341): 

Drive slowly; wisely chooser from drink for-bear; 

Mete justly ; shake the tree; down falls the pear. 
Here drive corresponds to shine and mete to give. The verb mete, 
' to measure,' though once strong, has become weak. 

(c) The -d or -t of Weak Verbs was supposed by some writers to be 
a corruption of did : thus / walk-ed, thou walk-edst were regarded as 
corruptions of / walk-did, thou walk-didst. This conjecture is no longer 
considered plausible. 

(d) It is interesting to notice how certain Strong Past Participles 
are still preserved as Adjectives used in particular phrases, though the 
Participle proper has assumed the Weak form. This contrast is illus- 
trated by the following examples 1 : 

Strong Ordinary 

Participle of Verb Participle 
cloven hoof cleave cleft 

graven image (en) grave graved 
molten metal melt melted 

sodden ground seethe seethed 

(e) In like manner when two forms of the Past Participle exist, both 
Strong or both Weak, in some cases one form is preferred for use as the 
Adjective. The following are instances of this : 

As Adjectives As Participles 

A drunken man The man is drunk. 

Ill gotten gains He has got his gains ill. 

A sunken ship The ship has sunk. 

My bounden duty I was bound to do it. 

1 Fuller lists are given in Hewitt's Manual of Our Mother Tongue, 
pp. 98-9; Low's English Language, pp. 135-6. 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 161 

The duplicate forms given above belong to verbs of the Strong Con- 
jugation. The following are instances of a similar distinction in Weak 
Verbs : 

A dread foe The foe was dreaded. 

A lighted candle The candle was lit. 

Roast meat The meat was roasted. 

On bended knee His knees were bent. 

{/) The following orthographical modifications, or changes in spell- 
ing, in the inflexion of verbs should be noticed. 

i. An e at the end of the verb is dropped before another vowel : so, 
love, lov-ing; shape, shap-ing, shap-en. (Notice, however, singeing 
from singe, to avoid confusion with singing from sing.) 

2. To verbs ending in a sibilant, es is added in the 3rd person 
singular of the present indicative and sounded as a distinct syllable : 
so pass-es, push-es, touch-es. 

3. After a consonant, y becomes ie when -s or -d follows : so, rel-ies, 
rel-ied'. but after a vowel, y is kept: so, play-s, play-ed. (Compare the 
formation of plurals of nouns in -y, e.g. lady, boy ; and of comparatives 
of adjectives in -y, e.g. merry, gay.) 

4. A final consonant, preceded by an accented short vowel, is 
doubled before e and i, to mark the pronunciation as short : so, shop-p-ing, 
bid-d-en, excel-l-ed, prefer-red\ but differ-ed, 6ffer-ed. 

170. In the following lists of Strong and Weak Verbs, 
with their Past Tense and Past Participle, the student will 
find only those about the principal parts of which he is likely 
to feel any uncertainty. For convenience of reference the 
arrangement is alphabetical : a distribution of Strong and 
Weak Verbs in classes, according to their mode of forming 
their Past Tense and Past Participle, is of no value except 
to those whose researches carry them back to the earlier 
stages of our language. In the Questions at the end of 
this chapter, many of the verbs omitted from these lists will 
be found. The reader should test his knowledge of their 
principal parts and mark those in which he makes any 
mistake. He will get at the Past Participle most easily by 
thinking of it in its combination with / have to form the 
Present Perfect tense : thus, supposing that he is asked to 
give the principal parts of spring, he may blunder in the 
w. k. o. 1 1 



1 62 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

principal parts, if he tries mechanically to repeat spring, 
sprang, sprung, and may say spring, sprung, sprang, but if 
he thinks of the forms as he is in the habit of using them, 
/ spring, I sprang, I have sprung, it is much less likely that 
he will go wrong. 

The forms given below in brackets are those less frequently used, or 
used only in special phrases. 

The letter W. prefixed to forms in the list of Strong Verbs indicates 
that those forms are Weak. 

171. List of Strong Verbs. 



Pres. Past 


P. Part. 


Pres. 


Past 


P. Part. 


abide abode 


abode 


lade 




laden 


awake awoke 


awoke 


W. laded 


laded 


W. awaked awaked 


lie 


lay 


lain 


bear bore 


born 


mow 




mown 


(carry) bore 


borne 


W 


', mowed 


mowed 


behold beheld 


beheld (beholden) 


rise 


rose 


risen 


bid bade, bid bidden, bid 


rive W. rived 


riven 


bind bound 


bound (bounden) 


seethe 


sod 


sodden 


blow blew 


blown 


W. seethed 


seethed 


chide chid 


chidden, chid 


sew W. sewed 


sewn, sewed 


choose chose 


chosen 


sow W. sowed 


sown, sowed 


cleave clave 


cloven 


shake 


shook 


shaken 


W, cleaved 


cleft 


shear 


(shore) 


shorn 


crow crew 




W 


. sheared 


sheared 


W. crowed 


crowed 


shine 


shone 


shone 


dig dug 


dug 


shew £K shewed 


shewn 


W. (digged) (digged) 


show W. showed 


shown 


draw drew 


drawn 


shrink 


shrank shrunk (shrunken) 


drink drank 


drunk 


sit 


sat 


sat 


eat ate 


eaten 


slay 


slew 


slain 


fly flew 


flown 


slide 


slid 


slid (sKdden) 


forbear forbore 


forborne 


sling 


slung 


slung 


forget forgot 


forgotten 


slink 


slunk 


slunk 


forsake forsook 


forsaken 


smite 


smote 


smitten 


get got 


got (gotten) 


stride 


strode 


stridden 


grow grew 


grown 


strive 


strove 


striven 


hang hung 


hung 


swear 


swore 


sworn 


W. (hanged) (hanged) 


swell 




swollen 


hew hewed 


hewn, hewed 


IV. swelled 


swelled 



INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 



163 



Pres. 


Past 


P. Part. 




Pres. Past 


P. Part. 


tear 


tore (tare) torn 




W. waked 


waked 


thrive 


throve 


thriven 




wear wore 


worn 


throw 


threw 


thrown 




weave wove 


woven 


tread 


trod 


trodden (trod) 


w T in won 


won 


wake 


woke 


woke 




wring wrung 


wrung 



172. List of Weak Verbs. 



The following verbs show a departure from the regular 
formation of the Past Tense and Past Participle in -d or -t. 



Pres. 


Past 


P. Part. 


Pres. 


Past 


P. Part. 


bend 


bent 


bent 


kneel 


knelt 


knelt 


bereave 


bereft 


bereft 


lay 


laid 


laid 




bereaved 


bereaved 


lean 


leaned 


leaned 


beseech 
betide 


besought 
betid 


besought 
betid 


learn 


leant 
learned 


leant 
learned 


bleed 


bled 


bled 




learnt 


learnt 


blend 


blended 


blent 


leave 


left 


left 


breed 


bred 


blended 
bred 


light 
make 


lighted, lit lighted, lit 
made made 


cast 
catch 

clothe 


cast 

caught 

clothed 


cast 

caught 

clothed 


pen(confine) penned 
pen (write) penned 
raise raised 


penned, pent 
penned 
raised 




clad 


clad 


read 


read 


read 


dream 


dreamed 


dreamed 


rend 


rent 


rent 




dreamt 


dreamt 


rid 


rid 


rid 


dwell 


dwelled 


dwelled 


set 


set 


set 


flee 


dwelt 
fled 


dwelt 
fled 


seek 
shoe 


sought 
shod 


sought 
shod 


flow 
gird 

have 


flowed 
girded 
girt 
had 


flowed 
girded 
girt 
had 


speed 
weep 
work 


sped 
wept 
wrought 
worked 


sped 
wept 
wrought 
worked 



Help has a Strong P. Part, holpen: 'He hath holpen his servant 
Israel.' 

Clave, cloven, are from cleave, ■ to split * : cleaved, cleft, from cleave, 
'to cling to. 5 But clave was sometimes used for cleaved (Ruth, i. 14), 
and cleft for cloven. 

Wrought from work shows transposition of consonants. 

II — 2 



i6 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Go (P. Part, gone) supplies its Past Tense went from wend, which is 
now inflected as a Weak verb, wetided. 

Yclept is from an Old Eng. verb meaning 'to call.' The y is a cor- 
ruption of the prefix ge-, which occurs in the P. Part, in modern 
German. 

173. Conjugation of the Verb. 

The collection of all the forms of a Verb, by 
which we mark its Voice, Mood, Tense, Number, 
and Person, is called its Conjugation. 

We have already seen that our supply of inflexions is 
quite insufficient to mark many of the distinctions of voice, 
mood, and tense, which we wish to express. In conjugating 
our verbs we therefore make use of other verbs called 
Auxiliaries. These Auxiliary Verbs will be discussed in 
the next chapter, but as the reader possesses a practical 
knowledge of his own language, it will be no embarrassment 
to him, if we complete our treatment of the verb generally, 
by inserting at this point illustrations of the conjugation of 
a verb, although to do this will involve the employment of 
those Auxiliaries to the treatment of which we are to come 
later on. 

First we will give the conjugation of a Weak and of a 
Strong Verb containing all their simple forms (that is, those 
not made by the aid of auxiliary verbs), both inflected and 
uninfected. The reader should notice (i) that the con- 
jugation when confined to the simple forms is of very 
limited extent, and (2) that the inflexions of Strong verbs 
are the same as those of Weak verbs except in the Past 
Tense and Past Participle. Take as the Weak verb wa7it y 
and as the Strong verb break 1 . 

1 Low's English Language, pp. 129, 148. 



' INFLEXIONS OF VERBS. 



165 



Verb Finite. 



Present. 



Sing. 



/>/. 1, 





Indicative. 


Subjunctive. 


g* I. 


want break 


want 


break 


2. 


want-est break-est 


want 


break 


3- 


want-s break-s 


want 


break 


2, 3- 


want break 


want 


break 



Past. 

Sing. 1. want-ed broke 

2. want-edst brok-est 

3. want-ed broke 
PL 1, 2, 3. want-ed broke 



[wanted broke 

wanted broke 

wanted broke 

wanted broke] 



Imperative. 

7 •*** [want, break 
2 PL ) 



Verb Infinite. 

Infinitive : (to) want, break 
Gerund : want-ing, break-ing 



Participles |P resent: wa " t "fg ? break-tog 
( Past : want-ed, brok-en 



Next let us take the conjugation of the verb break, 
making use of Auxiliaries. To bring out, where possible, 
the distinction between Indicative and Subjunctive forms, 
the Third Person Singular of each Tense is given, he or it 
being understood as a subject. 



1 66 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 



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havin 




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INFLEXIONS OF VERBS, 167 

Questions. 

1. Give the Past Tense and Past Participle of the following Strong 
Verbs : — arise, beat, begin, bite, break, burst, climb, cling, come, do, 
drive, fall, fight, find, fling, freeze, give, go, grave, grind, heave, help, 
hold, know, melt, ride, rise, run, see, shave, shoot, sing, sink, speak, 
spin, spring, stand, steal, sting, stink, strike, swim, swing, take, wind, 
write. 

2. Give the same forms of the following Weak Verbs: — bring, 
build, burn, buy, cost, creep, cut, deal, dwell, feed, feel, gild, hit, hurt, 
keep, knit, lead, leap, let, lose, mean, meet, put, rap, rid, rot, say, sell, 
send, set, shed, shred, shut, sleep, slit, smell, spell, spend, spill, spit, split, 
spread, sweat, sweep, teach, tell, think, thrust, wend, wet, whet. 

3. Give the Present Participle and Past Participle of the Verbs to 
which the following Preterites belong: — saw, sawed, sewed, sued, sat, 
set, sod, sold, fell, felled, laid, lay, raised, rose, rang. 

4. Show from forms still in use that melt, mow, swell, shear, were 
once of the strong conjugation. 

Write the Past Participles of shoe, light, work, knit, speed, 

5. Give the Past Tense and Past Participle of each of the following 
verbs '.—fall, fell, hoe, sing, knot, ride, know, jump, go, tear, bear, steal, 
sit, sling, wring. 

6. Give in two columns the 1st person singular of the Present and of 
the Past Tense Indicative of the verbs to which the following participles 
belong -.—flown, lain, eaten, forsaken, set, clad, shown. 

7. Write the Present Participles of die, dye, lie, forget, credit, 
acquit, sever, differ, infer, stop, hope, worship, marvel, singe, grieve. 

8. Give in two columns the 1st person singular of the Present 
Indicative and the Past Participle of the verbs to which the following 
Past Tenses belong : — chose, swore, lay, cast, sprang, awoke, grew, hid. 

9. Distinguish the forms of -ing in these sentences: — *I saw him 
riding yesterday.' 'This is my riding-horse.' ' /tiding is pleasanter than 
walking.'' 'The riding of the cavalry was excellent.' ' He is riding his 
cob.' ' He keeps his health by riding regularly.' 'Riding in the Row, I 
met the duke.' ' This curb is no good for riding.'' ' He goes to the riding 
school.' 'I like riding.' ' I am very fond of riding.' ' He is gone a-riding. ' 

[In the last example, the a is a corruption of the preposition on.] 

10. Distinguish by its appropriate name each of the following 
forms in -ing\ 

(a) * Writing yesterday he mentioned the matter to me.' 

(b) ' The writing of impositions sometimes spoils a good hand.' 

(c) ' Writing impositions sometimes spoils a good hand. ' 

(d) ' Lend me your writing- desk.' 



1 68 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

if. Parse the words in -ing in the sentence, * Darkling we went 
singing on our way, with our walking-sticks in our hands, weary of 
toiling in town.' 

[Darkling is an adverb signifying 'in the dark,' formed from the 
adjective by the suffix -ling. Compare -long in headlong and the German 
-lings, e.g. kbpflings .] 

12. Write three sentences, each of them containing the word 
hunting. Use hunting in (i) as a verbal noun, in (2) as a participle, 
in (3) as a gerund. 

1 3. What is the origin of the form of expression, ' A house to let ' ? 

14. Write short notes explaining the use of the words in italics : 

( 1 ) ' The rose. . .would smell as sweet? 

(2) ' Better dwell in the midst of alarms.' 
[On (1) see § 148 and for sweet § 194 {c). 

(2) Dwell is the infinitive to dwell used as subject of is understood: 
* To dwell in the midst of alarms is better than to reign in this horrible 
place.' The omission of to before the infinitive as subject of a verb was 
not uncommon formerly.] 

15. Draw up a scheme of tenses of the indicative mood of the verb 
to go. 

16. Give illustrations of the use of the present indefinite tense to 
express {a) past action in graphic narrative, (b) habitual action, (c) future 
action. 

17. In the expressions (1) ' I had to go,' (2) ■ I had rather go,' by 
what mood is had followed, and why? 

18. Give four verbs which have only one form for present tense, 
past tense, and past participle; also four which have two forms; and 
four in which all these three parts are different in form. 

19. How do you distinguish between transitive and intransitive 
verbs ? To which of these classes does the verb in the following sentence 
belong? — ■ Not a drum was heard.' 

What are the transitive verbs corresponding to fall, lie, sit, rise? 

20. Is any alteration necessary in the following sentence ? — ' Stand 
the gun in the corner. ' 

[If stand can be used transitively, signifying 'make or cause to stand,' 
the sentence is right. We do use it in this way in conversation, but in 
the more formal literary language, the transitive set or place would 1 < 
employed.] 



INFLEXION OF VERBS. 169 

21. What class of verbs may be put into the passive voice? Change 
the verbs in the following sentence into the passive voice: 

4 The Persians attacked the Greeks again, but they did not make any 
impression on the little army. ' 

How have the subjects and objects been affected by the change? 

22. Distinguish clearly between the meaning of 'It is destroyed,' 
'He is deceived^ on the one hand, and that of 'It is fallen ,' 'He is 
risen? on the other. [See § 146.] 

23. What does the infinitive mood express? 
Parse fully the verbs in the following : — 

'It is laughable to see beginners play.* 

24. State the various ways in which the infinitive mood may be 
used. Give illustrative sentences. 

25. Correct the mistakes in the following sentences: — 
'The lion, having laid down, roared loud.' 

' As he lay down the weight, it slipped and has broke his arm.' 
'A look of immovable endurance underlaid his expression.* 
' He lay himself down.' 

' Thou dash est him to earth — there let him lay.' 
' I would not like to say that the pistol laid yesterday as it lies 
now.' 

* Will you lose that knot for me ? ' 

' Will you allow my brother and I to finish what we have began ? 

' I had wrote to him the day before. ' 

' It was sang at the Philharmonic last year.' 

Comment on any grammatical peculiarity in the lines — 

'And while his harp responsive rung, 
'Twas thus the latest minstrel sung.' 

' The sun had rose and gone to bed 
Just as if Partridge were not dead.' 

26. Name the several moods of a verb, and show, with examples, 
how each mood answers to its name. 

27. Is any alteration required in the following sentence? — 'He 
says he isn't going to go for it.' 

[There is nothing formally wrong in saying 'going to go,' but the 
use of ' going,' in the sense of ' about,' to signify an action on the point 
of commencement, is avoided with the verb \ go ' itself, though its 
employment might be defended more logically in this context than in 
such expressions as 'to be going to sit still,' 'to be going to stay here,' 
for if we continue to ■ sit ' and to 'stay,' we do not ' go ' at all, and in 
saying that we do there is a contradiction in terms.] 



170 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

28. Is it correct to say that the Infinitive Mood does not mark 
differences in the time of the action? Consider the forms to write, to 
have written, to be going to write, in answering the question. 

[With regard to, the expression to be going to write, we may remark 
that the combination of the verb go with to write does not constitute a 
tense. Other circumlocutions, or roundabout modes of expression, 
might be employed to convey the same meaning, and these circum- 
locutions would have as good a claim to recognition, as forms of the 
future infinitive, as the phrase to be going to write: e.g. to be about to 
write, to be on the point of writing, to have the intention of writing. 
See § 164, (2). 

With regard to the form to have written, the case is different. This 
is a genuine tense of the infinitive mood. But the difference of meaning 
between to write and to have written is a difference of completeness, not 
of time. When we say * He seems to have written the copy correctly,' 
' I expect to have written the last chapter by to-morrow evening,' 
completed action, not past action, is expressed by the tense to have 
written.~\ 

29. What inflexions of nouns and verbs survive in modern English ? 
How is it that there are so few? 

Point out traces of some which have been lost. 

30. Give examples from modern English of traces of inflexions 
which have fallen into disuse. How has the place of these lost in- 
flexions been supplied? 

31. Comment on the inflexion of each of the following words: — 
geese, pence, brethren, vixen, whom, what, worse, eldest, could, did. 



i7i 



CHAPTER XVIL 

Auxiliary and Defective Veres. 

174. The Auxiliary Verbs, which supply the deficiencies 
of inflexions and enable us to mark distinctions of Voice, 
Mood, and Tense, in the conjugation of a verb, are these : — 
be, have, shall, will, may, and do. 

Be is used (i) as a Voice Auxiliary, forming with the 
Past Participle of transitive verbs the Passive : 'I am beaten' 
1 to be beaten': and (2) as a Tense Auxiliary, forming the 
Imperfect Tenses in both voices : ' I am beating/ c I am 
being beaten. 7 

Notice that, with the Past Participle of certain Intransitive 
verbs, be forms the Perfect Active : * I am come/ * He is 
gone,' ' It is fallen.' See § 146. 

Have is a Tense Auxiliary and forms the Perfect Tenses 
both Active and Passive: 'I have beaten,' 'I have been 
beaten,' * I had beaten,' * I shall have been beaten.' 

Shall and will form the Future Tenses of the Indica- 
tive Mood, Active and Passive : * I shall beat,' ' He will 
be beaten,' 'They will be beating,' 'We shall have been 
beaten.' 

May and might, should and would, are used as 
signs of the Subjunctive : * Strive that you may succeed,' 
1 He strove that he might succeed,' ' I should be glad/ ' This 
would seem to be the case/ 



172 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

Do is used as an auxiliary in negative and interroga- 
tive sentences : ' I do not believe this,' 'Do you believe 
this ? ' 

We shall briefly discuss these verbs in turn. 

175. Be is a defective verb, and its conjugation contains 
forms derived from three roots which we see in am, was, 
be. Am is the only form of a verb in English that retains 
the sign of the first person, m, which stands for me. The 
/ in art is the sign of the second person, as in shalt, wilt. 
Is has dropped its ending -/ : compare German ist, Latin 
est Are is a. Danish word which has taken the place of the 
Old English form of the third person plural. The simple 
tenses of the indicative and subjunctive moods have been 
given on p. 146. 

Be is used as — 

1. A Notional Verb, with a meaning of its own, signi- 
fying 'to exist,' when we say, 'God is,' 'There was a 
Palmerston.' 

2. A Copula, connecting the terms of a proposition : 
' The boy is lazy/ 'A griffin is an imaginary beast/ This 
account of is belongs to logic rather than to grammar 
however : in the language of grammar we should describe 
is here as a verb of Incomplete Predication. 

3. An Auxiliary of Voice and Tense : ' He is beaten,' 
' He is beating,' ' He is come.' 

176. Have shows contraction in some of its forms, — 
hast for havsf, has for haves, had for havde. It is used as — 

1. A Notional Verb, meaning 'to possess/ arid then 
admits of a passive use : l This suggestion has long been 
had in mind.' 

2. An Auxiliary of Tense to form the Perfects : 4 He 
has written a letter/ ' He will have finished his work,' 
'They had missed the train.' On this construction see 
§ 160. 



can 


may 


can-st 


may-(e)st 


can 


may 


can 


may 



AUXILIARY AND DEFECTIVE VERBS. 173 

177. Shall was originally a past tense, meaning 'I 
have owed,' hence, 'I must pay,' 'I am under an obligation, 
or necessity. 7 The German word for i debt/ Schuld, shows 
the same root. The idea of obligation is still conveyed 
in such expressions as 'You should do your duty/ 'He should 
not say so.* Shall acquired the sense of a present, and 
a weak past was then formed from it, but the absence of 
the ending -s from the third person singular shall is due to 
the fact that it was formerly a past tense. The same circum- 
stance explains the forms can, may, will, must, in the third 
singular, instead of cans, mays, wills, musts. Compare these 
forms : 1 

Present. 
Sing. 1. shall will 

2. shal-t wil-t 

3. shall will 
PI. 1, 2, 3. shall will 

Past. 

Sing. 1, 3, PI. 1, 2, 3. should would could might 

Sing. 2. should(e)st would (e)st could (e)st might(e)st 

178. Will as an auxiliary contains only the tenses 
given above. As an independent, notional verb it can be 
conjugated regularly throughout : ' I did this because you 
willed it so/ ' It has been willed by the authorities.' Old 
English had a negative form nill, meaning 'will not/ as 
Latin has volo and nolo. Nill survives in the adverb willy- 
nilly, i. e. will he, nill he, — ' whether he will or won't.' 

179. Shall and will express the contrast between doing 
a thing under compulsion from outside and doing a thing 
from one's own inclination. Used as auxiliaries they express 
(1) futurity, (2) determination. To express futurity, shall is 
the auxiliary of the first person, will of the second and third. 
To express determination, will is the auxiliary of the first 

1 Low's English Language, p. 143,, 



i74 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

person, shall of the second and third. More will be said 
on the subject of this distinction in dealing with the Syntax 
of these verbs. An Englishman never uses them wrongly : 
an Irishman or a Scotchman seldom uses them without trip- 
ping. Why was it absurd of the Irishman in the water to 
say, according to the venerable story, 'I will be drowned 
and nobody shall save me'? Because 'I whT and 'nobody 
shall' indicate the resolution, or determination, of the 
speaker, and not simple futurity. 

180. May formerly ended in g, which Is still written, 
though not sounded, in might. As a Notional Verb it 
expresses permission, 'You may go out for a walk,' or 
possibility, 'He may pass his examination': in the latter 
case, emphasis is usually laid upon the word. As an 
Auxiliary it occurs as a sign of the subjunctive mood : 
1 Give him a book that he may amuse himself,' 'They have 
locked the door so that he may not get out.' 

181. Must was a past tense but is now used as a present 
indicative. It has no inflexions but can be used of all 
persons. It expresses the idea of necessity : ' You must 
work,' ' I must get that book,' ' This must be the case.' 

182. Can was the past tense of a verb meaning ' to 
know : ' compare the German, kennen, c to know,' and the 
English, coriy 'to learn'; also cunning, originally '.knowing.' 
What a man has learnt, he is able to do, so can came to 
signify 'to be able.' 

The / in could deserves particular notice. It has no 
business to be there, but has been inserted owing to a 
mistaken notion of analogy with should and would, in 
which words the / is rightly present as part of the roots, 
shall and will. Uncouth, 'unknown,' and so 'odd,' or 
'awkward,' shows the correct spelling without the /. 



AUXILIARY AND DEFECTIVE VERBS. 175 

183. Dare is (1) an Intransitive Verb, meaning 'I 
venture,' and (2) a Transitive Verb, meaning C I challenge.' 

(1) The Intransitive dare was originally a past tense 
which came to be treated as a present, and a past tense 
durst was then formed from it. The s of durst is part of the 
stem, and not of the inflexion of the second person singular, 
which would be durstest. As dare was a past tense, the 
third singular of the present indicative properly takes no -s, 
* He dare not say so.' But the Intransitive Verb has been 
confused with the Transitive, and before an Infinitive with 
to the form dares is used : ' He actually dares to say so.' 

(2) The Transitive Verb is regularly conjugated ; 'He 
dared me to do this.' 

184. Ought was originally the past tense of the verb owe 
which meant, first, 'to have,' and then 'to have as a duty,' 
' to be under an obligation.' Shakespeare often uses owe in 
the sense of own, or ' possess.' It seems a little odd that ' I 
owe a thousand pounds' might signify in the Elizabethan 
age either ' I possess a thousand pounds,' or ' I am a thou- 
sand pounds in debt,' but our modern words own and owe 
express the same contrast, and the notion of possession 
is the older meaning of the two. As ought is now used with 
the sense of a present, we have to express past obligation by 
altering the tense of the dependent infinitive. Thus we 
render non debet hoc facere, 'he ought not to do this,' non 
debuit hoc facere, 'he oughtn't to have done this,' which 
is less defensible logically than the vulgar form of ex- 
pression, 'he hadn't ought to do this.' 

185. Need is used without the final s in the third 
singular present, when it means 'to be under the necessity': 
'He need not go.' The reason for the omission is not clear, 
as need was not originally a past tense which has acquired 
a present force. Hence we cannot explain the absence 



176 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

of the s from need as we explain its absence from can, may, 
shall, will, dare. 

186. Do represents two verbs originally distinct. Do, 
meaning 'to be good for' (Latin valere), which occurs in 
such expressions as ' This will do nicely/ ' Will that do ? ' 
had no connexion originally with the do of general use, ' to 
make, perform/ Latin facere. The former verb was confused 
however in its conjugation with do, meaning 'make/ and 
assumed its inflexions, did, done. 

Do (Latin facto) forms compounds, don, 'to do on/ 'to 
put on/ of clothing : doff, ' to take off' : dout, 'to quench/ 
'to put out/ of a light or fire: dup, 'to do up/ or 'fasten/ 
of a door. 

The forms dost, doth are mainly confined to the auxiliary 
use : doesl, doeth are never auxiliary. 

The uses of do are important : 

i. As a Notional Verb, meaning 'make, perform': 
' He did his work.' 

2, As an Auxiliary — 

(a) in place of the present or past indefinite : ' I do 
repent ' for ' I repent '; 'He did rejoice ' for ' He rejoiced ' ; 
'They did eat' for 'They ate/ The auxiliary do is here 
unemphatic. 

(b) to emphasize our meaning : ' I do think so ; ' ' He 
did try hard ' ; ' They did eat.' 

(c) in interrogative sentences : ' Do you think so ? ' i Did 
he go ? ' 

(d) in negative sentences: 'He does not think so'; 'I 
did not go.' 

The verb dependent on the auxiliary is in the infinitive 
mood. 

3. As a substitute for other verbs, except ' be ' : ' He 
reads more than you do (read)'; 'I said I wouldn't take the 



AUXILIARY AND DEFECTIVE VERBS. 177 

money and I didn't (take it) ' ; ' You play well and so does 
(play) your brother.' 

187. The following verbs are practically obsolete: 

Wit, 'to know,' has a Present wot and Past wist, 
(used to-day only in affectation of archaic style) : * I'll find 
Romeo to comfort you : I wot well where he is ' ; ' He wist 
not what to say.' The old gerund to wit now signifies 
* namely.' 

Worth is all that remains of an old verb signifying to 
be or become. £ Woe worth the chase, woe worth the day ' 
means 'Woe betide/ or 'befal.' 

Quoth is a Past Tense, the Present of which appears in 
the compound bequeath. It occurs now only in the first and 
third persons singular and always precedes the pronoun : 
'quoth I,' 'quoth he.' 

Questions. 

1. Explain the term Copula. Make the copula explicit in the 
sentence 'The fire burns.' 

[The word copula belongs to Logic rather than to Grammar. In 
Logic, the proposition 'Man is mortal 5 would be described as consisting 
of two terms and a copula : the term man is the subject, the term 
mortal is the predicate, and the word is, which Connects the two, is the 
copula. In Grammar, mortal is not the predicate, but together with is 
it forms the predicate. To bring the sentence 'The fire burns' into the 
form of the proposition in Logic we must say 'The fire is burning.' We 
have then made the copula explicit.] 

2. Give in outline the history of the Auxiliary Verbs. 
Discuss the following constructions : — 

(1) ' I did come.' 

(2) ' I have come.' 

(3) ' I ought to come.' 

(4) ' I ought to have come.' 

3. Make sentences in which the word have is used (a) as a transitive 
verb in the indicative mood, (b) as a transitive verb in the subjunctive, 
(c) as an auxiliary. 

W. K. G. 12 



178 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

4. Conjugate the verbs can, shall, will, ought, must, and show how 
the places of the missing forms are supplied. 

[Think, e.g.,, how we express ourselves instead of saying, ' I shall 
not can go,' 'They will must stop.'] 

5. Write short notes on the following italicised words: — ' He must 
go.' — 'He need not go.' — 'He dare not go.' — * Met kinks.' — '/ wis.' — 
' This will never do' — ' So mote it be.' 

[/ wis is not a verb at all, but an adverb ywis, * truly,' where y 
represents an older form ge y as in yclept ; compare German gewiss, 
' certainly.' 

Mote is the subjunctive of mot, 'I can, I may,' (but of different 
origin from the verb may,) from which must was formed as a past tense, 
though used also as a present.] 

6. Write short notes on the following italicised verbal forms : — 
' How do you doV — ' I do you to wit.' — 'Woe worth the day! ' — 'Seeing 
is believing.' — ' He that hath ears to hear y let him hear.' 

[In ' How do you do ? * the first do is the auxiliary. The second is 
now considered to be do, Latin facere y not do, Latin valere, as was once 
supposed. The expression resembles the Old French equivalent, Com- 
ment le faites vous? literally, ' How do you make it ? ' and the German 
Was machen Sie ? literally, ' What make you ? ' 

/ do you to wit means ' I cause you to know. '] 

7. As English verbs possess no inflexions to form the future tense, 
how are the ideas of simple futurity, of intention, and of compulsion 
respectively expressed ? 

8. Define mood, te7ise, auxiliary verb. 

Write two sentences, each containing a verb in the subjunctive mood. 
Explain the meaning of the word perfect as applied to tense. 
Distinguish the various uses of do as an auxiliary verb. 



179 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Adverbs. 

188. An Adverb is a word which modifies the 
meaning of a verb, adjective, or other adverb. 

Verbs usually indicate an action, and this action may be 
performed in various ways and in different circumstances. 
These variations in the conditions under which the action 
takes place are expressed by adverbs. Thus the action 
asserted in the sentence ' He bowled ' is described as 
limited or modified, as regards the time when it occurred, 
if I say * yesterday'; as regards the place, if I say 'here'; 
as regards the manner, if I say 'badly.' The vagueness of 
the statement ' He bowled ' has been in large measure 
removed when I say ' Yesterday he bowled here badly.' 
Just as adjectives limit the application of nouns to things, 
so adverbs limit the application of verbs to actions. Just 
as the words ■ clever boy' are applicable to fewer objects 
than the word 'boy,' so the words * bowled yesterday' are 
applicable to fewer actions than the word f bowled.' 

Again, Adjectives denote attributes, and these attributes 
are such as, in many instances, but by no means in all, vary 
in degree. One way of indicating this variation is by com- 
parison : another is by the use of adverbs which denote 
degree. If the reader will refer to the chapter on the In- 
flexion of Adjectives, he will see that the Demonstrative 

12 2 



180 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Adjectives, e.g. this, that, first, second, do not admit of 
Comparison at all ; that the same thing is true of the definite 
Quantitative Adjectives, like none, both, and the Cardinal 
Numerals ; and that even of the Qualitative Adjectives there 
are several which cannot be compared. Hence it is only to 
some adjectives that adverbs can be applied. Moreover it is 
only some adverbs which are applicable to adjectives. Ad- 
verbs of time, place, manner, cannot be used to qualify 
adjectives, though they qualify verbs. The same remarks 
apply to the qualification of adverbs by other adverbs. We 
can say ' very bad,' * very badly,' but there is no meaning in 
saying ' here bad,' Either badly,' 'anyhow bad,' 'then badly,' 
for though these words may possibly occur together in 
sentences, reflexion will show that in such cases it is the 
verb, and not the adjective or adverb, which is modified. 

189. We may classify Adverbs on three different 
principles. 

I. As Simple and Conjunctive. 

Most adverbs are simple. They contain a meaning in 
themselves: c He thinks so now? 'I live here,' 'We were 
greatly pleased.' 

A few however have a meaning only when they are taken 
in connexion with another clause. 'He came when,' 'I 
waited while] 'They are sitting where,' are meaningless 
assertions until the sentences are completed : ' He came 
when I called,' ' I waited while he wrote a letter/ ■ They are 
sitting where we left them.' These adverbs have the force 
of conjunctions in joining clauses together. Hence they 
are called Conjunctive Adverbs. The reader will observe 
that in possessing this connecting force they resemble the 
so-called relative pronouns. In *I know who it is,' the 
clauses 'I know,' 'it is,' are united by the relative pronoun 
who: in 'I know where it is,' they are united by the con- 
junctive adverb where. 



ADVERBS. t8i 

190. II. According to their Meaning. 

{when} now, to-day, then, yesterday, soon, to-morrow 
how long? always, ever 
how ofUn ? twice, yearly, rarely 

1 where! here, near, below 
whence? hence, thence 
whither? hither, thither 
in what order ? secondly, lastly 

3. Degree, or Quantity how much ? scarcely, quite, little, exactly 

4. Manner, or Quality how? well, ill, and adverbs in -ly 

5. Certainty certainly, not, perhaps 

6. Reason and Consequence why, therefore, thus 

191. Yes and No. What are we to call the words 
Yes and No ? 

They are usually classed as Adverbs of Affirmation and Negation, 
or, to use the term employed in our table, Adverbs of Certainty. Yet 
they are not exactly adverbs, for we cannot use them to modify verbs, 
adjectives, or other adverbs: we cannot say 'He yes did it,' 'He is yes 
good,' 'He acted yes wisely.' In some respects they resemble Inter- 
jections, but they are not, like them, the expression of a sudden feeling. 
They are really equivalent to sentences : ' Did he say so ? ' ' Yes,' — that is, 
' He said so ' : ' No,' — that is, ' He did not say so.' As they are certainly 
words, we must either make them a new Part of Speech, which seems 
undesirable, or include them with Adverbs or with Interjections, though 
different from both. The student will of course understand that no, 
meaning none, is an adjective: *no money,' l no friends.' 

192. III. According to their Origin or Mode 
of Formation. 

The following are the principal modes in which Adverbs 
are formed : 

1. Adverbs from Adjectives. 

2. Adverbs from Nouns in their oblique cases. 

3. Adverbs from Pronouns. 

4. Compound Adverbs. 



182 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

193. Illustrations of these Modes of Formation. 

i (a). The usual adverbial suffix is -ly, a corruption of like-, so, 
'godlike' became 'godly.' 

(b). In Old English, adverbs were formed from adjectives by 
adding -e : fast-e, hard-e. This suffix disappeared along with many of 
our other inflexions, and adjective and adverb were no longer distin- 
guishable in form. ' A fast rider' : ' He rode fast. 1 

i. The comparative and superlative forms of such adverbs as are 
referred to above in i (b) are the same as those of the adjectives: 'A 
faster rider ' : 'He rode faster. ' 

The comparative and superlative forms of several adjectives which 
have irregular comparison are used adverbially also. See p. 115. 

With these exceptions, more and most are generally employed in the 
comparison of adverbs. 

3. Relics of case-inflexions appear in some adverbs : — 

(a) genitive ending -.$• is present in needs, unawares, and disguised in 
once, twice. 

(b) dative plural ending -21m survives in seldom and in the archaic 
whilom, 'formerly.' 

(c) instrumental case is seen in why, the (in 'the more the better,' 
originally thi), and how. 

4. The survival of inflexions is illustrated by the adverbs which are 
derived from the pronouns he t who, and the demonstrative adjective the. 



Stem 


Suffix 
-ther 


Locative 
case 


Genitive 
case 


Accusative 
case 


Instrumental 
case 


he 

who 
the 


hither 

whither 
thither 


here 
where 

there 


hence 
whence 
thence 


when 
then 


why, how 
the, thus 



5. In a few cases a compound adverb is formed from, two words 
written in one: meanwhile, straightway, yesterday, thereupon, herein, 
hitherto, aboard (where a is a corruption of on), perchance, elsewhere, 
whensoever^ 



194. The following points deserve attention : 

(a) Words belonging to other parts of speech are sometimes used'as 
adverbs : — 

Nouns for adverbs: 'lie went home,' 'I don't mind a rap,' 'The 
wound was skin deep. ' 



ADVERBS. 183 

Pronouns for adverbs: ' somewhat steep,' % no7ie the worse.' 
Verbs for adverbs: 'It went crash through the window,' * Smack 
went the whip.' 

(b) Adverbs are sometimes used with nouns as if the adverbs were 
adjectives: 'The then prime-minister,' 'The above remarks,' 'My arrival 
here, ' His journey abroad.'* 

(c) Is there any difference of meaning between 'He arrived safe' 
and ' He arrived safely'} 

The adjective safe marks a quality of the agent he, the adverb safely 
marks the mode of the action arrived. If his horse ran away, and he 
narrowly escaped being upset, he might arrive 'safe,' but he certainly 
would not arrive 'safely,' that is, 'in a safe manner.' 



Questions. 

1. What difficulty would arise in conversation, if there were (a) no 
adjectives, {b) no adverbs ? 

[Illustrate the difficulty by an example of this sort. By the aid of 
adjectives we can distinguish different varieties of things, each of which 
distinctions would require a separate noun, if we had no adjectives. 
Thus, if we take wine as our noun, and good, old, and red, as its limiting 
adjectives, with these four words we can mark eight distinctions: viz., 
(putting initial letters to represent the words) W, GW, OW, RW, 
GOW, GRW, ORW, GORW, and for these eight distinctions we should 
need eight nouns. This gives a very inadequate idea however of the 
economy of words which adjectives enable us to effect. For if we take 
the same three adjectives good, old, and red, and change the noun from 
wine to velvet, we shall need another eight nouns to express the varieties 
of velvet ; another eight would be required to express the varieties of 
curtains, and so on. The three nouns wine, velvet, and curtains, in com- 
bination with the adjectives good, old and red, would need twenty-four 
words instead of six. 

The same point might be illustrated as regards verbs and adverbs. 
By combining write, ride, walk, with gracefully, slowly, well, we express 
by means of six words twenty- four distinctions. If we had no adverbs 
and wished to mark these distinctions, we should do so either (1) by 
using phrases composed of a preposition and a noun, e.g. ' with grace,' 
' in a slow manner,' ' in a good style,' or (2) by adding twenty-one verbs 
to our vocabulary.] 

2. Express by adverbs the adverbial phrases in the following 
sentence: — 'To tell the truth I want the money in the course of the 
next few hours, and if you will let me have it at the present moment, 
without asking for what purpose it is required or in what manner I am 
going to spend it, I shall feel obliged to an extraordinary extent.' 



1 84 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. Express by adverbial phrases the following adverbs: — lastly, 
pleasantly, once, occasionally ', there. 

4. Explain the use of right in — ' Right against the stream they 
pulled.' 

5. Apply your definition of adverb to the adverb in the phrase 
* Quite within my recollection.' 

[It appears at first sight as if the adverb quite qualified the pre- 
position within. But this is not the case. It qualifies the whole phrase 
within-my-recollection. What sort of phrase is * within- my- recol- 
lection ' ?] 

6. Mention two adverbs of place, two of time, and two of degree ; 
and form adverbs from the words holy, whole, t?'ue, side, board, one, 
need, north, here, day, other, three. 

7. Refer to its class each of the following adverbs : — weekly, weakly, 
possibly, enough, anyhow, hence, hardly, certainly, aloft, presently. 

8. Parse the word above in the following sentence: — 'The above 
remarks, as we noticed above, apply above all to the third class.' 

9. What parts of speech may an adverb modify ? 

Parse fully the words alone, almost, in each of the following sen- 
tences : — 

(a) 'He almost succeeded alone.' 

(b) ' He succeeded almost alone.' 

(c) ' He, alone, almost succeeded.' 

[As explained at the beginning of the chapter, adverbs limit, or 
modify, verbs and adjectives, words expressing actions and attributes: 
they also qualify other adverbs. As participles are verbal adjectives, 
participles admit of adverbial modification : * much disappointed,' ' twice 
blessed.' The following are exceptional uses of the adverb. In 'Yours 
faithfully ' the pronoun is modified, as it expresses a quality. In ' fully 
master of the language ' a noun is modified, but the noun is used like a 
verb to express an attribute : ' He was fully master of the language ' 
means ' He had fully mastered the language.' In 'I am entirely at your 
disposal,' ' He died far from his native land,' the adverb looks as if it 
modified a preposition, but it really modifies the whole adverbial phrase. 
See Bain's Higher English Grammar p. 66, Angus' Handbook of the 
English Tongue, p. 225.] 

10. Give examples of adverbs formed from nouns, pronouns, 
adjectives, and by combining various parts of speech. 

1 1 . What are the adverbs corresponding to the adjectives shy, fay, 
sly, fast, kindly, gay ? 

Explain the forms betimes, whilom, piecemeal, ashore. 



ADVERBS. 185 

[With -meal in piecemeal compare German -mal in einmal. The 
suffix represents an old English word signifying * piece,' 'measure,' 
which was used in the dative plural to form adverbs.] 

12. Point out any difference in the adverbial use of very and much. 

[Very qualifies adjectives in the positive and the superlative degree : 
e.g. 'a very steep hill,' 'the very steepest hill.' Much qualifies adjectives 
in the comparative degree: e.g. 'a much steeper hill.' Again, very 
should not be used to qualify participles when used as participles. Thus 
we cannot say * He is very amusing the company,' and we ought not to 
say * The company seemed very amused.' Participles used as adjectives 
may, however, be qualified by very. e.g. * He is a very amusing fellow' ; 
1 The company wore a very amused expression. ' j 



1 86 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Prepositions. 

195. A Preposition is a word which is used 
with a noun or pronoun to show its relation to 
some other word in the sentence. 

Case was defined as the form of a noun or pronoun by 
which we show its relation to some other word in the 
sentence. But the relations in which a noun may stand are 
far more numerous than those which the supply of cases, 
even in an inflexional language like Latin, will enable us 
to represent. And in a non-inflexional language like our 
own, we are almost entirely dependent on Prepositions for 
the means of expressing these relations. Thus the Romans, 
like ourselves, had recourse to prepositions when they said 
' before the town/ 'against the town/ 'through the town/ 
'across the town/ ante urbem, contra urbem, per urbem, 
trans urbem, although case-endings served their purpose in 
some instances in which we have to fall back on prepositions, 
and they could say moenia urbis, 'the walls of the town/ 
dat agros urbi, ' he gives lands to the town/ 

196. A preposition and noun together form a phrase 
which is equivalent to either an adjective or an adverb. So, 
'a statesman of eminence' is 'an eminent statesman'; 'a town 
in Holland' is 'a Dutch town'; *a man without education' 
is ' an uneducated man.' The combination here is adjectival. 
In the following examples it is adverbial : by force, in a 



PREPOSITIONS. 187 

curious fashion, with courage, at t?ie present time, from this 
spot: for these phrases we might substitute the adverbs 
forcibly, curiously, courageously, now, hence. 

197. In the language of grammar we speak of the pre- 
position as 'governing' the noun or pronoun to which it is 
attached. In Greek, or Latin, or German, the student finds 
it a serious business to learn the cases which follow the 
various prepositions, but in modern English, owing to the 
loss of inflexions, we are spared any trouble of this kind. 
The noun governed by the preposition is 'in the objective 
case/ and the form of the objective is identical with the form 
of the nominative. In the pronouns the differences of form 
are limited to the pronouns of the First, Second, and Third 
Persons, and to the Relative who. 

Notice however that, though we speak of the noun 
as governed by the preposition, it is not necessary that 
the noun should come after the preposition. The preposi- 
tion is often put at the end of the sentence. So, we may 
say ' This is the boy whom I gave it to, 7 ' What are you 
talking about 1 f and the construction is the same as if we 
had said 'This is the boy to whom I gave it/ 'About what 
are you talking ? ' 

198. Prepositions might be classified, as Adverbs were 
classified in the preceding chapter, according to their mean- 
ing. But such a classification would be out of place in an 
elementary book. The relations in which things stand to 
other things are so various that the prepositions expressing 
these relations would require a large number of classes 
for their arrangement. Or, if the number of classes were 
small, the names of the classes would necessarily be so 
vague that the student would attach to them no clear and 
distinct meaning. Then again, the classification would be 
complicated by the fact that the same preposition is used in 
widely different senses and would therefore have its place in 



188 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

several groups. As an illustration of this, let us notice 
some of the relations indicated by the preposition by. We 
can use it to mark time, ' by day y ; or instrument, ' stunned 
by a blow'; or agency, 'stabbed by Brutus'; or manner, 
'hung by the neck'; or measure, 'sold by the pound' ; or 
place, ' he lives by the river • ; or as an appeal, ' I beg 
you by whatever you hold dear ' ; and these are not all of 
its meanings. 

199. We may also classify Prepositions according to 
their Origin. 

(i) Some are Simple : at, by, to, up, on. 

(2) Others are Compound : throughout, within, upo?i, 
into. 

(3) A few are Participles: considering, regarding, con- 
cerning, during, pending* 

200. The use of considering, or regarding, as a true participle may 
be seen in such sentences as these : ' Considering the temptation, they let 
him off,' i.e. 'They, considering the temptation, let him off': * Regarding 
your conduct, I am shocked,' i.e. M, regarding your conduct, am 
shocked.' But when we say, 'Considering the temptation, he was 
allowed to get off,' considering means 'in consideration of and has 
become a preposition: when we say, 'Regarding your statement, you 
have been misinformed,' regarding means 'with regard to' and has 
become a preposition. The use of concerning as a preposition occurs in 
the A.V. in the passage, 'Now concerning the collection... even so do 
ye,' (1 Cor. xvi. 1) : its participial origin is seen in such an expression 
as this ; ' Your remarks concerning me are unfounded. ' Commercial 
men are quite needlessly pressing the participle 'referring to' into their 
service as a preposition, and their letters begin in this objectionable 
fashion: 'Referring to yours of yesterday lard has gone up.' Here 
referring to is used as a preposition signifying 'with reference to* and is 
no longer a participle: if it were, the -construction would be 'lard 
referring to your letter,' which is absurd. 

Some of these forms may be explained as originally Absolute con- 
structions of the participle: ' during the day' arose from 'the day 
during,' or 'lasting': ' pending the verdict,' from 'the verdict pending,' 
or 'being in suspense': ' notwithstanding 'the storm,' from 'the storm not 
withstanding,' or 'obstructing.' A similar explanation applies to except, 
which springs from the Latin past participle: 'all except John' was 



PREPOSITIONS, 189 

originally 'all, John having been excepted.' Save, as a preposition, 
exhibits the same absolute construction : the word is here an adjective 
equivalent to safe. So, 'all, save one' was 'all, one being safe.' 

201. The beginner will find little difficulty in dis- 
tinguishing between the functions of the same word as 
Preposition and as Adverb, if he remembers that a 
Preposition is used with a noun or its substitute 
and governs it : where there is no noun thus governed, 
the word in question is not a preposition. A few examples 
will make this clear : the following words are used as 

Prepositions Adverbs 

He is on the roof. Put it on. 

Take it <?/"the table. Take it off. 

He is gone down the town. He is gone down. 

It lies beyond the river. It lies beyond. 

We went along the bank. Go along. 

Questions. 

1. Give the definition and derivation of (a) pronoun, (b) preposition. 
Shew how your answers apply to the words printed in italics in the 

following : — 

*To be, or not to be, — that is the question.' 
'They had nothing to amuse themselves with.' 

['Pronoun' from Latin, pro, 'for,' nomen, 'name'. 'Preposition' 
from prae, 'in front', positus, 'placed', not because prepositions are 
usually placed before nouns, for they often come after them, but because 
in Greek and Latin they were prefixed to verbs to form compounds. 
The derivation of the name is only a source of embarrassment to 
beginners, as it suggests order in a sentence, with which it has nothing 
to do. 

Remember that the infinitive is equivalent to a noun. What nouns 
can we substitute for 'to be,' 'not to be '?] 

2. Specify the notions expressed by the preposition on in the following 
examples of its use: — 'It rests on the earth' — * Weston is on the sea' — 
'He lectures on medicine' — 'We returned on Saturday' — 'The dew 
descended on the parched earth' — ' He made an attack on the enemy' — 
'He started on receiving the telegram' — 'He gave up business on 
account of his health.' [See Bain's Higher English Grammar, pp, 
90—1.] 



i 9 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

3. Construct sentences illustrating some of the principal uses of 
for and of. 

4. In the following quotations from Shakespeare substitute pre- 
positions in accordance with modern idiom 1 : — 

1 Have we eaten on the insane root ? ' 

* Steal forth thy father's house.' 
'From out the fiery portal of the East.' 

* Sounds of music creep in our ears.' 

* Our fears in Banquo stick deep. ' 

* We'll deliver you <?/~your great danger.' 
'A proper man of mine honour.' 

* A plague of all cowards !' 

* I stay here on my bond.' 

* Prepare yourself to death. ' 

1 The lady Beatrice hath a quarrel to you. ' 

* I live with bread like you.' 

5. Express with the aid of a preposition the idea represented by 
the first part of these compound nouns : — gravy-spoon, steam-ship, war- 
ship, land-breeze, sea-captain, Convalescent- Home, ground-swell, play- 
ground, life-preserver, wheel-barrow. 

6. What idea was originally represented by prepositions in English ? 
[Relations in space. These purely local meanings were then 

extended to express relations of time and of cause. So, of and off 
were once the same word; by meant * close to'; for meant * before.' 
See Mason's English Grammar, pp. 116 — 9.] 

7. In the following phrases, is the use of the preposition inconsistent 
with its definition? — (a) in short, after all, at last, for better, for worse: 
(b) till now, for ever, since then, from here. 

[In (a) the preposition is joined to adjectives which are used without 
the noun which they limit. In (b) the preposition is joined to adverbs 
employed as nouns: now is equivalent to 'the present time,' ever, to 
'all time.' When these words are parsed, the adjectives should be 
described as adjectives used for nouns, or as adjectives with the ellipsis 
of nouns, and the adverbs as adverbs used for nouns.] 

8. Write down the prepositions in the following lines -and make 
short sentences to illustrate different uses of each : — 

1 As when upon a tranced summer night, 
Those green-robed senators of mighty woods, 
Tall oaks, branch -charmed by the earnest stars, 
Dream, and so dream all night without a stir.' 

1 Selected from Abbott's Shakespearian Grammar. 



PREPOSITIONS. 191 

9. Paraphrase the meanings of the prepositions in — 

(a) ' Have it ready by to-morrow.' 

(b) ' I shall do my duty by him.' 

(c) ' It lies south by west.' 

(d) ' He married for love.' 

(e) ' For all his efforts, he remained poor.' 

(/) ■ The soldiers were under arms : at the word of command they 
stood at attention.' 

10. Give four examples to show that the meaning of a verb may be 
differently modified by a preposition or an adverb according as the 
preposition or adverb is attached to the verb as a prefix or written 
after it, 

[As, e.g. understand and stand under.] 

11. Interpret the following pairs of sentences and comment on the 
idiomatic use of but which they exemplify : — 

1. (a) 'This specimen is all but perfect.' 

(b) 'This specimen is anything but perfect.' 

2. (c) 'I can but feel sorry.' 
(d) * I cannot but feel sorry. ' 

[The idiomatic uses of but are full of difficulty. From its literal 
sense 'outside of (by-out) the preposition but came to mean 'without,' 
' except.' In the first pair of sentences substitute except for but. We 
can understand how the phrases all but and anything but arose, but it is 
curious that their meanings should be diametrically opposite. See 
Abbott's How to Parse y p. 259. 

In the second pair of sentences the presence or absence of the not 
leaves the meaning unaffected. In (c) we may substitute only for but, 
and in {d) we may supply an ellipsis : ' I cannot do anything but 
(/.*. except) feel sorry.' See Mason's English Grammar, § 538, where 
however it is maintained that in (c) a negative is improperly omitted.] 



192 



CHAPTER XX. 
Conjunctions and Interjections. 

202. A Conjunction is a word, other than a 
relative pronoun or conjunctive adverb, which 
joins words and sentences. 

All conjunctions can join sentences together, but all 
words which join sentences are not conjunctions. 'This i§ 
the man who stole the money ' contains two clauses, ' This 
is the man : (he) stole the money ' ; the two clauses are 
united by the relative pronoun who and form one complex 
sentence. The reader will remember that the distinguishing 
mark of a relative pronoun is this, that it has the force of a 
conjunction. But it is not itself a conjunction. Again, 
* I know where he lives ' contains two clauses, ' I know 
(the fact) : he lives there ' ; the two clauses are united by 
the conjunctive adverb where and form one complex 
sentence. 

203. What do Conjunctions join, — Sentences, 
or Words, or both ? 

Conjunctions usually connect sentences even when they 
appear to connect only words. ' John and Mary are good 
players' is an elliptical or abbreviated way of saying 'John 
is a good player,' 'Mary is a good player.' But in some 
cases and connects words only, and there is no contraction 
or abridgement of two separate sentences. 'John and Mary 
are a handsome couple ' cannot be resolved into ' John 



CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS. 193 

is a handsome couple/ 'Mary is a handsome couple/ 
'Two and two make four' is not a compact way of saying 
'Two makes four,' 'Two makes four.' With the exception 
however of the occasional use of and to join words, con- 
junctions join sentences. Thus ' He was poor but honest' 
contains two statements; 'He was poor: he was honest.' 
'He is neither a knave nor a fool' means 'He is not a 
knave: he is not a fool.' 'He is either a knave or a fool' 
means ' He is either a knave, or he is a fool.' 

204. Conjunctions are classified as (i) Co- 
ordinating and (2) Subordinating. 

(1) Co-ordinating Conjunctions join co-ordinate or 
independent clauses: e.g. and, but, either... or, neither... 
nor. 

(2) Subordinating Conjunctions join a dependent 
clause to the principal clause : e.g. that, after, till, because, 
though, if. 

205. The reader must now prepare himself to grapple 
with a part of the subject which will present greater diffi- 
culties and call for the exercise of more intelligence than any 
of the problems which he has hitherto encountered in the 
study of grammar. Before going further, we must explain 
the meaning of the terms co-ordinate, dependent, clause, which 
have been introduced into the definitions of conjunctions 
and classes of conjunctions. The discussion of these words 
belongs indeed to syntax rather than to etymology. But 
we have reached the threshold of syntax and may cross the 
threshold without straying far beyond the strict limits of our 
present subject ; for it is only by saying now some of the 
things which would more properly be said in the concluding 
chapters of the book, that we can hope to make the treat- 
ment of conjunctions intelligible. 

A Sentence is a collection of words by which we say 
something about a thing. The word which stands for the 
w. E. g. 13 



i94 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

thing about which we make the assertion is called the 
Subject of the sentence. The word by which we make 
the assertion about the thing is called the Predicate. 

If a sentence contains only one subject and one finite 
verb, it is a Simple sentence : 'The general was knighted/ 
'He told me this/ 'He gave me a contribution/ are simple 
sentences. 

If a sentence contains two or more independent clauses 
joined by co-ordinating conjunctions, it is a Compound 
sentence : ' The general was knighted and presented with 
the freedom of the city/ ' He neither told me this, nor did 
he hint it/ ' He gave me a contribution but he grudged it/ 
are compound sentences, each of which contains two parts 
entirely independent. These two parts might form separate 
sentences without affecting the sense of the compound 
sentence. 

But if a sentence contains two or more clauses, one of 
which is dependent on the other, it is a Complex sentence: 
'The general who won the victory was knighted/ 'He told 
me that the prisoner had escaped] 'He gave me a contribution 
because he approved of the object '/ are complex sentences. 
The groups of words in italics contain, it is true, their own 
subjects and finite verbs. But they are not independent 
sentences : they occupy the place of an adjective, a noun, 
or an adverb, in relation to the rest of the sentence of which 
they form a part. Hence they are called Subordinate 
Clauses. 

Thus in the sentence ' The general who won the victory 
was knighted/ the clause 'who won thti victory' is equivalent 
to victorious and limits the application of the noun 'general.' 
It is an adjectival clause. 

In the sentence ' He told me that the prisoner had 
escaped/ the clause 'that the prisoner had escaped' occupies 
the same position as might be occupied by such words as 
'the fact/ or 'the rumour.' The fact or the rumour is a 



CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS. 19S 

noun. Hence the clause, as it takes the place of a noun, 
is a noun clause. 

In the sentence 'He gave me a contribution because 
he approved of the object,' the clause ' because he approved 
of the object' modifies the application of the verb gave, 
stating why he gave it. The words by which we limit the 
application of verbs are adverbs : ' He gave me a contri- 
bution approvingly, or cordially, or readily,' would express, 
approximately though not exactly, the same thing as ' He 
gave me a contribution because he approved of the object.' 
Such a clause as this, since it takes the place of an adverb, 
is an adverbial clause. 

The sentences which form parts of an entire sentence 
we shall call clauses. 'The general won the victory and 
was knighted' is a Compound sentence consisting of the 
two co-ordinate or independent clauses : ' The general won 
the victory,' 'The general was knighted. 1 . 'The general 
who won the victory was knighted ' is a Complex sentence 
consisting of a principal clause, 'The general was knighted,' 
and a subordinate adjectival clause, 'who won the victory,' 
referring to ' general ' in the principal clause. ' The general 
was knighted because he won the victory' is a Complex 
sentence consisting of a principal clause, 'The general was 
knighted,' and a subordinate adverbial clause, ' because he 
won the victory,' modifying 'was knighted.' 

206. No rule of thumb can be supplied which shall enable the stu- 
dent to determine whether a subordinate clause is an adjective-clause, 
noun-clause, or adverb-clause, without the exercise of his wits. The 
same collection of words may be adjectival, substantival, or adverbial, 
in three different complex sentences. Take the words, * where the 
battle was fought.' A beginner, recognising an adverb in the first word 
'where,' might jump to the conclusion that a clause which begins with 
an adverb must be an adverbial clause. But the nature of the clause is 
not to be settled in this way : we must look at the clause in its relation 
to the principal clause and see what sort of work it does, — whether it 
does the work of an adjective, of a noun, or of an adverb. Observe its 
different functions in these three complex sentences : 

13— 2 



196 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

x. 'The spot where-the-battle-was-fought is unknown*' 

1. 'Where-the-battle-was-fought is unknown.' 

3. 'I live where-the-battle-was-fought.' 

In (i), where-the-battle-was-fought is adjectival, limiting 'spot'; in 
like manner we might say 'the exact spot is unknown.' 

In (2), it is a noun-clause, equivalent to 'The spot is unknown,' 
6 The fact is unknown,' '// is unknown.' 

In (3), it is adverbial, modifying the verb 'live,' just as an adverb 
would modify it in the sentence ' I live there.* 

When the reader has mastered the distinction between compound 
and complex sentences and between the three kinds of subordinate 
clauses, one or other of which every complex sentence contains, 
analysis will present very few difficulties to him. But Jhis analysis of 
complex sentences will generally be wrong, if he attempts the task 
without an intelligent grasp of the principles which have been stated 
above. From this digression into syntax we must now return to the 
subject of conjunctions from which we may seem to have wandered far. 

207. The reader should now be able readily to grasp 
our meaning when we say that co-ordinating conjunctions 
are those which unite co-ordinate clauses; and that 
subordinating conjunctions are those which join sub- 
ordinate clauses to the principal clause of a complex 
sentence. 

The subordinate clauses which a subordinating con- 
junction introduces are noun-clauses or adverbial clauses. 
Adjective-clauses are attached to the principal clause by a 
relative pronoun or by a relative adverb ; as, ' The general 
who won the victory was knighted,' which is equivalent to 
' The victorious general was knighted ' ; c The house where 
nobody lives is to be pulled down,' which is equivalent to 
'The empty house is to be pulled down/ Noun-clauses 
are generally introduced by that, and occur especially after 
verbs of saying, thinking, believing, asking, hoping, seeing, 
and others of similar import : 'I say that he did it, 1 'I think 
that this is so.' But that is not essential to a noun-clause : 
thus the following clauses in italics are noun-clauses; 'I see 
how you did iff ' When he did it is not clear,' ' He asked 
if I did itf 'We heard you had gone? 



CONJUNCTIONS AND INTERJECTIONS. r 97 

208. The subordinating conjunctions by which adverbial 
clauses are introduced may be classified according to the 
various modes of dependence which they indicate, as — 

i. Conditional — if, unless. 

2. Concessive — though. 

3. Temporal — after, till, while, as. 

4. Consecutive, marking Result — that (' so that '). 

5. Final, marking Purpose — that ('in order that'), 

lest. 

6. Causal — because, since, as. 

209. Conjunctions have grown out of other 
parts of speech. 

Whether the conjunction that was originally the demon- 
strative pronoun or the relative pronoun is not quite clear : 
'I know that you did it' may be representative of 'You 
did it : I know that, 1 or of * I know that, that you did itV 
Both, used with and, is the same word as the adjective; 
either, used with or, is the same word as the distributive 
pronoun. Than, though, while, were once adverbs. Before, 
after, since, were once prepositions and were followed by 
'that.' To distinguish Conjunctions from Prepositions is 
easy : Conjunctions never govern a case. To distinguish 
Conjunctions from Adverbs is often difficult, and our re- 
marks on the distinction shall be reserved till we are 
dealing with the Syntax of Adverbs and Conjunctions. 
(See p. 255.) 

210. Conjunctions which occur in pairs are called 
Correlatives: both... and, either... or, so... as, so. ..that, 
as... so, whether... or, are examples of Correlative Con- 
junctions. 

1 See Mason's English Grammar y § 290, and Gow's Method of En g~ 
lish, p. 168. 



198 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

211. Interjections. 

An Interjection is a sound which expresses an 
emotion but does not enter into the construction 
of the sentence. 

As Interjections have no connexion with the gram- 
matical structure of the sentence, their claim to recognition 
among the Parts of Speech is a small one. O t ah! pooh I 
psha I like the barking of a dog or the lowing of a calf, are 
noises, not words. If there were any advantage in classify- 
ing these sounds, we might group them according to the 
feelings which they express, as Interjections denoting joy, 
disgust, surprise, vexation, and so forth. 

Interjections which are corruptions or contractions of 
words, or elliptical forms of expression, may be referred to 
the parts of speech to which they originally belong. So, 
adieu is 'to God (I commend you),' goodbye is 'God be with 
you,' hail I is 'be thou hale' or 'healthy,' law t or lawks 1 
is a corruption of ' Lord !' and marry I of ' Mary !' 



Questions. 

1. What are Correlative Conjunctions? Give the correlatives of 
either, though, both, and of such and so with different senses. 

2. What, since, well. Illustrate by short sentences the various 
grammatical uses of each of these words, and mention in every instance 
its part of speech in your sentence. 

3. Construct three Complex sentences, each containing as its 
subordinate clause the words when the accident happe?ied. In the first 
sentence the subordinate clause is to. be a noun clause, in the second an 
adjective clause, and in the third an adverbial clause. 



i 9 9 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Compounds and Derivatives. 

212. If we were to read down a column of words on a 
page of an English dictionary, we should find that the gieat 
majority of these words have been formed from other words, 
either by joining two words together, or by adding to a word 
a sound which by itself is without meaning. Thus from 
man in combination with other words there have been made 
freeman, mankind, midshipman, footman, while, by the addi- 
tion of an element which has no significance alone, manly, 
unman, ma?inikin, have come into existence. The former 
process is called Composition, the latter Derivation : 
words made by the former process are called Compounds, 
by the latter, Derivatives. The terms 'Derivation' and 
'Derivative ' are not well chosen, as their meaning is here 
narrowed down from the sense in which they are generally 
used. When we speak of the derivation of a word we 
usually signify the source from which it comes : thus we say 
that phenomenon is of Greek ' derivation ' and vertex of 
Latin 'derivation/ though as these words have been trans- 
ferred ready-made from foreign languages they are not, in 
this special sense, English derivatives at all. But the em- 
ployment of the terms derivation and derivative, in contrast 
with the terms composition and compound, is too well estab- 
lished to allow of our making a change, and the student 
must therefore bear in mind that when used in this connexion 



200 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

they indicate an important distinction in the mode of the 
formation of words. 

Composition is the formation of a word by 
joining words together. 

Derivation is the formation of a word — 
(i) by adding a part not significant by itself, 
or, (2) by modifying an existing sound. 

The part not significant by itself when attached at the 
beginning of a word is called a Prefix ; when attached at 
the end, a Suffix. 

A Hybrid is a compound or derivative contain- 
ing elements which come from different languages. 

213. Unlike Greek and German, modern English does 
not lend itself readily to the formation of long compounds. 
If the reader cares to turn to his Greek lexicon and to look 
up the word beginning 6pOpo<poiro~ or the still more formid- 
able \€Tra8oT€fjLaxo-, he will see this facility for making com- 
pounds burlesqued by Aristophanes. A humourist of our 
own day, Mark Twain, deals with German compounds in a 
like playful fashion. 

In compound words, the first word usually modifies the 
meaning of the second. A ring-fi?iger is a particular kind 
of finger ; a finger-ring a particular kind of ring. In true 
grammatical compounds there is usually a change of form 
or of accent. So spoonful is a true grammatical compound 
of spoon full. Poorhouse and Newport carry an accent on 
the first syllable as compounds : as separate words each of 
the two is accented equally. Compare c a poor house by 
the new port' with 'the poorhouse at Newport.' Words 
joined by a hyphen with no change of form or of accent 
are merely printers' compounds, 

214. Words disguised in form. 

The appearance of some words is deceptive, suggesting 
as it does that they are compounds when they are not, or 



COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 201 

that they contain elements which do not really belong to 
them. Examples of this are seen in cray-fish, really from 
icrevisse, l a crab/ and quite unconnected with ' fish ' : 
causeway >, from chaussee; kickshaws from quelques-choses, 
goodbye from God be with you! shame-faced for sha?nefast, 
like steadfast 1 , 

215. Derivatives are generally formed by means 
of prefixes or suffixes : a few however are formed 
without the addition of a new sound by the change of 
an existing sound. Thus from glass we get glaze ; from 
sit, set ; from fall, fell ; from drink, drench; from gold, gild. 
In these cases we have modification but not addition. 

Prefixes and Suffixes once possessed a meaning and 
existed as separate words. Thus the ending ly represents 
the word like: godlike and godly contain elements originally 
the same, but godlike is now described as a compound, and 
godly as a derivative. 

216. A few of the more important Suffixes are given 
here for the purpose of illustration. They are distinguished 
according to (1) their force, (2) their origin. In the following 
list, Suffixes derived from the Romance languages are 
described as of Classical origin. 

Noun Suffixes. 
Diminutives : 

(a) Of English origin: maid-^w, cock-e-n?/, kenw/, lass-zV or 
bab-jj/, fartYi-ing (small fourth part), duck-/-zVz£-, lamb-^^w, thimb-/^, 
\\\\\-ock. 

(b) Of Classical origin : glob-ule, animal-cute, parti-*:/*?, more-*?/, 
-notion-cello, \ermi-celli, rivu-/^, lanc-<tf. cig&r-ette. 

Notice that some of the latter group are not English formations : the 
words are diminutives in the foreign language from which we borrowed 
them, but they are not English diminutives any more than testatrix is 
an English feminine. 

Diminutives may occasionally express not smallness but (1) endear- 
ment, darling, Charlie, or (2) contempt, mannikin, worldling. 

1 A long and interesting list of words disguised in form is given in 
Meiklejohn's English Language, pp. 145 — 151. 



202 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Augmentatives express the opposite idea to that expressed by 
Diminutives : 

Classical : drarik-ard, wiz-ard. The suffix -ard, though ultimately 
of Teutonic origin, comes to us from Old French -ard. Sweetheart is a 
compound of sweet heart, and not, as has been thought, an augmentative, 
sweet-ard. Other augmentative endings appear in ball-oon, tromb-one 
(a big trumpet), milli-^w (a big thousand). 

Agent : 

(a) English: l&w-yer, garden-^r, sail-<?r, li-ar. 

(b) Classical: act-<?r, bombard-z>r, engin-eer, secret-ary, (Greek) 
journal-^/. 

Marking feminine gender: 

(a) English: spin-j&r, vix -en. 

(b) Classical: govern-<wj, testatr-z;r, (Greek) hero-ine. 

Act, state, quality, are denoted by many suffixes : 

{a) English: irtQ-dom, brother-hood, god-head, da.rk-ness, friend- 

ship, tru-th, gif-t. 

(b) Classical: bond-age f infamy, ma.tri-mo?zy, jusl-ice, opin-ion, 

forti- tude, liber-/y, cuIt-^>Y. 

Adjective Suffixes. 
Possessing a quality : 

(a) English: wretch-^. The -ed in 'wretched' is the ending of the 
past participle, but it is attached to nouns as well as to verbs to form 
adjectives, as in 'horn-^,' 'feather-^/ 'kind-heart-^.' A great outcry 
was raised some years ago against the words gifted, talented, moneyed, and 
a few similar adjectives, on the ground that they are formed like parti- 
ciples, but that there are no verbs from wrach they come. If however 
we can talk of a 'rag-g-^ beggar,' there seems no reason why we should 
not talk of a ' gitt-ed poet.' The further objection may be brought against 
talented and moneyed that they are hybrids, since talent comes from 
the Greek and money from the Latin. But the same objection might be 
urged against the past participle of every weak verb of foreign origin in 
the language, from preached down to telegraphed. 

Other adjectival endings of English origin occur in the following 
words : o^zxreX-some, god-ly, wood-en, thirst-^. 

(b) Classical: leg-al, mund-ane, lun-<zr, div-ine, tim-id, sens-ible, 
irz.g-ile. 

Possessing a quality (i) in a high degree: 

(a) English: care^/w/. (b) Classical: \erb-ose, glori -out; 
and (ii) in a low degree: (a) English: bl&ck-ish. 



COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 203 

Verb Suffixes. 
Causative : 

(a) English : sweet-en. 

(b) Classical: magni^ (Latin facto). 

Other verbal suffixes, derived from a Latin source, are seen in 
t\our-ish (Latin florescd) , facilit-afc. The common ending -ize^ or -ise, 
is of Greek origin : critic-231, theor-w*. 

Frequentativt : 

(a) English: bat-t-^r (from beat), crack -le (from crack). 

Hybrids. As our vocabulary is composed of words from Latin, 
Greek, and native sources, hybrids are naturally numerous. Indeed, 
as the grammatical forms of our language are almost entirely of English 
origin, any word from a Latin or Greek source which takes our English 
inflexions might in strictness be called a hybrid. 

The term is usually reserved however for words which obtrusively 
present a combination of different elements: such are bi-gamy and 
bi-cycle, because bi(s) is Latin and the remainder is Greek. J ournal-ist 
combines Latin and Greek, mon-ocular Greek and Latin; shepherd-ess 
English and French, g?'and-father, French and English; false-hood, 
Latin and English; un-fortunate, English and Latin. 

217. The following are a few of the principal Prefixes, 
classified as English, Latin, or Greek, according to their 
origin 1 . 

English : 

a-, usual meaning *on\* <z-live, tf-board. 

be-, from preposition 'by': (i) changes the meaning of a transitive 
verb, be-bold, beset : (ii) converts an intransitive to a transitive, be-moan, 
&?-wail : (iii) has an intensive force, ^-daub, Upraise. 

for-, not the preposition 'for': (i) intensive force, for-give: (ii) pri- 
vative, for-get, forswear. Notice that fore-go, ('to go without') fore- 
do, should befor-go, for-do : the verb fore-go means 'to go before.' 

fore-, as in 'before' : fore-tell, fore-see. 

mis-, with sense of 'a-miss* : mis-deed, mis-take. 

un-, (i) meaning 'not*: ^«-wise, un-belief: (ii) marking the reversal 
of an action; un-fasten, un-wind. 

with-, meaning 'against': withstand, with-draw. 

Latin : 

a-, ab-, abs-, 'from': a-vert, d^-rupt, abs-tain. 

ad-, 'to': adjective; variously modified, e.g. ac-cuse, aggravate, 
a/-ly, a^-pear, assize, at-tain, a-vow. 

1 For complete list see Low's English Language, pp. 157-164, or 
Morris' Historical English Gram7nar, Chap. xv. 



2o 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

ante-, 'before,' ante- chamber. 

bi-, bis-, 'twice,' fo'-ped, bis-cuit. 

contra-, 'against,' contra-diet, counter-march. 

in-, (i) 'in': in-fuse, im-vel, en-rol: (ii) 'not': zVsensible, im- 
possible, *V-responsible. 

minus-, 'mis-chief,' with meaning of English prefix mis-, but of 
different origin. 

non-, 'not': #<w-conformity. 

per-, 'through': persecute, pur-sue, peV-)uxe, (compare 'for- swear'). 

re-, 'again,' 'back': r^-cur, return. 

super-, 'over': super-fine, sztr-vive, jz>-loin. 

vice-, 'instead of: vice-xoy, vis-count, 

Greek : 

an-, a-, 'not': a«-archy, a-theist. 
ana-, 'again,' 'back': ana-logy, ana-lyse. 

anti-, 'against': anti-vathy, ant-agonist. In a/z//-cipate however 
we have Latin ante. 

archi-, 'chief: archi-tect, arche-tyoe, <z?r^-bishop. 

auto-, 'self: <2z^?-biography, atito -msloxt., 

ek-, ex-, 'out of: <?<r-logue, «f^-odus. 

eu-, 'w T ell': *«-logy, ^/-angelical. 

hyper-, 'beyond': hyper-bolical. 

meta-, 'change': meta-ohox. 

mono-, 'single': mono-poly, mon-axch. 

pan-, panto-, 'all': pan-aces., panto-mime. 

para-, 'beside': para-gxavh. 

syn-, 'with': syn-o6\, syl-lahle, symbol. 

218. Division of Words into Syllables. 

A Syllable consists of a single vowel sound with or 
without accompanying consonants. It is pronounced by a 
single effort of the voice. Through is a single syllable, 
though it contains seven letters : ideality with eight letters 
has five syllables. In through there is one vowel sound, the 
long o of cool, here represented by ou : in ideality there are 
five distinct vowel sounds, with three consonants dispersed 
amongst them. 

There are no hard and fast rules for the division of words 
into syllables, when a division is necessary in writing. In 
this matter, as also in the matter of punctuation, writers are 
very much at the mercy of the printers. From the nature 



COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 205 

of the case, no division can be made in words of one syllable 
however long. Straight, scratchy drought, contain only one 
vowel-sound and must be written and printed entire. Two 
principles should regulate the separation of words of more 
than one syllable into parts : as far as possible we ought to 
follow — 

(1) the etymology, 

(2) the pronunciation. 

Hence the hyphen is placed between the prefix or suffix 
and the root of derivatives, and between the constituent 
parts of compounds : en-large, duck-ess, free-man. But some- 
times the division according to pronunciation is at variance 
with the division according to etymology. For example, 
orthography, geology, would be divided thus, if we follow the 
pronunciation as our guide, — orthog-raphy, geol-ogy, whereas 
their etymology would direct us to divide them thus, — 
ortho-graphy, geo-logy. In cases of conflict of this kind it is 
generally best to place the hyphen consistently with the ety- 
mology \ 

Questions. 

1. Add to each of the following words the prefix which reverses the 
meaning : — contented, proper, visible, pleasant, ingenuous, natural. 

1. Define the terms prefix and suffix. Illustrate your answer by 
analysing the following words into their component parts: — believing, 
darling, forlorn, islet, nethermost, requital, spinster, uncouth. 

3. Does the phrase 'Crated bread' require correction? 

['Crated bread' would be bread made of bronze (Latin aes, aeris). 
What sort of bread is sold at the ABC shops, and whence does it get its 
name ?] 

4. Break up the words mistrustfully, unwholesomeness, into syl- 
lables, and explain how each syllable contributes to the meaning of the 
words. 

5. Why are the following words hybrids?— -forbear-ance, duke-dom, 
somnambul-ist, un-just, social-ism^ master-ship. 

1 See Angus' Handbook of the English Tongue, pp. 11 1 — 2. 



2o6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

6. Give the derivation and history of the following words; and 
mention any case of double meaning, or of change of meaning : — 
alderman, defeat, drake, idiot, invalid, involve, kaleidoscope, middle, 
megrim, monk, orchard, pilgrim, scholar, uncouth. 

7. What are the chief constituent elements of the English lan- 
guage? 

Give the derivation of the following words, pointing out any change 
of meaning : — ally, agony, dyspeptic, girl, journal, lord, person, ornitho- 
logist, poison, rival, sherry, silly, somersault, telegraph, villain, volume. 

8. Give the derivation of the following words, showing from what 
languages they were taken : — caitiff, cardinal, frenzy, seraph, nightin- 
gale, welkin. 

9. Give the etymology of the following words: — gazette, tinsel, 
blame, loyal, archbishop, sheriff. 

10. Which is the right place for the hyphen in the following words? 
Why? — sui-cide or suic-ide; locom-otive or loco-motive-, viad-uct or via- 
duct ; apo-stle or apos-tle ; epig-ram or epi-gram ; dec-line or de-cline ; 
sus-pect or susp-ect ; kin-dred or kind-red; lanc-et or lan-cet ; mor-ning 
or mom-ing; hil-lock 01 hill-ock; univers-ity or university, se?nin-ary 
or semi-nary ; catas-trophe or catastrophe. 

11. What is the force of each of the following prefixes, and from 
what language does it come? Give a word in illustration: — with-, 
contra-, dia-, sub-, per-, sym-, arch-, un-, ab~. 

12. Point out the prefixes in the following words and give their 
force : — extract, misuse, retrograde, antecedent, antipathy, outdo, besmear, 
accede, ignoble, immense. 

13. What is the force of the -en in each of the following words? — 
gold-en, sweet-en, vix-en, childr-^z, maid-^w. 

14. Give the force of the suffixes in these words: — black- ish, 
yeoman-rj/, spinster, maltster, youngster, doct-or, dax-ling, man-hood, 
god-head, ixee-dom, lanc-<f/, ring-/*?/. 

15. Give the Primary Derivatives from the following words : — heal, 
sit, weave, deep, lie, bath, love. 

[By a Primary Derivative is here meant a word formed from another 
word as its root, by the addition of a sound not significant alone, or by 
the modification of an existing sound. Thus from strong is formed 
strength, where we have both addition and modification; from glass 
is formed glaze, where we have modification only. Now if, from the 
Primary Derivatives, fresh words are formed by similar processes, these 
words are called Secondary Derivatives. So, from the Primary Deriva- 
tive strength we form strengthen ; from glaze, glazier. Strengthen and 
glazier are Secondary Derivatives.] 



COMPOUNDS AND DERIVATIVES. 207 

r6. Distinguish derivatives and compounds. 

Comment on the following formations: — witticism, oddity, wondrous, 
honeyed. 

[Some of the words are hybrids. For honeyed read p. 202.] 

17. Reverse the meaning of each of the following words by adding 
a prefix : happy, possible, rational, contented, valid, noble, sense. 

Give four examples of diminutive forms in English nouns. 
What is meant by saying that the word bicycle is a hybrid ? 

18. Write three derivatives with English suffixes, three with Latin, 
three with Greek, and three with French. 

19. What suffixes are used in English to express diminutiveness 
(a) in nouns, (b) in adjectives, {c) in verbs? 

Mention suffixes which indicate (1) agency, (2) state. 

[With reference to (c) observe that the frequentative endings have 
also in some instances a diminutive force: glim-m-er (from gleam), 
gam-b-/* (from game), dazz-le (from daze), wadd-Z? (from wade) are 
examples.] 

20. In the following words what is the force of the parts printed in 
italics ? — around, numerous, governesses, recite, 'English. 

21. Why is it important which part of a compound word is placed 
first? 

22. State the meaning of the following prefixes and suffixes: — 
forlorn, misuse, attract, ^speak, livelihood, whiten, swinish, satch^/. 

23. Mention the force of the following suffixes and the language 
from which each is derived: -fy, -ness, -ion, -ible, -en, -isk, -ly, tude. 

24. What is the force of the following prefixes and suffixes ?—fore-, 
in-, meta-, -en, -le, -er. 

Explain and derive the words umpire, icicle, jovial, tawdry, sirloin, 
squirrel, trivial, Utopian, solecism, boycott. 

25. By the addition of prefixes or suffixes convert the following 
adjectives into verbs: — large, just, strong, wide, dim, clean, dear. 

26. Mention some suffixes by the addition of which we form 
(1) adjectives from nouns, (2) nouns from adjectives, (3) verbs from 
nouns or adjectives, (4) adverbs from pronouns. 

27. With what familiar English root- words can you connect the 
following derivatives? — ditch, wander, gift, month, husband, length, 
uoof, seed, burden, forlorn, vixen. 

28. Give the meaning and account for the form of each of the 
following words : — kine, riches, rather, naught, hillock, surna??ie. 

29. Comment on the forms of the words empress, alms, nearer, 
-none, atheism, surface. 

30. By the use of a suffix change each of the following nouns inta 
an adjective ; — sister, fame, quarrel, slave, silver. 



208 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

31. Distinguish the meanings of older and elder; latest and last; 
masterly and masterful', virtuous and virtual; stationary and stationery; 
idiotic and idiomatic; idol and idyll; politic and political; confident and 
confidant ; expedient and expeditious ; credible and creditable, 

32. Write short notes on the etymology of the following words : — 
cambric, dandelion, drawing-room, laconic, nostril, posthumous, tantalise, 
profusely, bicycle, surgeon. 

33. What is the force of the suffix in darkness, hillock, friendship, 
drunkard, farthing! Can you explain the vowel in the first syllable of 
kitten, thimble, vixen! [See § 54, (3).] 

34. Explain the force of the adjectival endings -ish, -ine, -en, -y, 
-al, -ic, -ous, -less, -some, adding an example of each. 

35. Comment on the structure of the following words and state 
whether any of them are anomalous in form : — kine, shepherdess, spinster, 
unjust, mineralogy, deodorize, children, sovereign, talkative, laughable. 

36. What ideas are indicated by the following suffixes and prefixes? — 
Jew-ry, duck-ling, wit-ness, trump-^, tromb-one, aboard, Arch-duke. 

37. Mention English words containing prefixes and suffixes of 
Latin and Greek origin corresponding in their force to the following of 
native origin : — ^/-mighty, ^'//-starred, thorough -fare, withstand, wood-^«, 
black-^tt, learn-^/. 

38. * In word-building, Prefixes alter the meanings of words and 
Suffixes alter their functions.' Illustrate this statement. 

[The term ' functions ' is explained in § 64. The antithesis in the 
passage quoted above is scarcely accurate, for a word which changes 
its function must change to some extent its meaning. The writer wishes 
to call attention however to a distinction which is sometimes real and 
important. Take, for instance, kind. Unkind reverses its meaning: 
kindly and kindness change its functions. Treat the roots man, trust, 
dress, truth, in a similar way.] 

39. Mention some of the chief ways in which the vocabulary of a 
language may be increased. Give illustrations. 

[See the note to Q. 11, p. 20, and think what processes there are, 
besides importation from foreign sources, by which fresh words may be 
added to an existing stock.] 

40. Mention other English words cognate with hospital, vision, 
tenant, victor, sequel. 

[As an example of what is required, let us take the word frail and 
give some of its cognates. Frail is a derivative from Latin frango, 
fractum, and from the same ultimate source we obtain fragile, fracture, 
fragjnent, fraction, refraction, &c. These are called ' cognates.'] 



20Q 



CHAPTER XXII. 
Analysis of Sentences and Parsing. 

219. Syntax deals with the combination of 
words in sentences, their government, agreement, 
and order. 

In the course of our treatment of Etymology, many 
points belonging strictly to the province of Syntax have 
been already touched upon. The remaining chapters will 
contain a brief recapitulation of these points, with the 
addition of such details as are required to complete the 
information, on the subject of Syntax, which may fairly be 
looked for in an elementary text- book. 

When, in dealing with Conjunctions, we explained the 
difference between a Compound and a Complex Sentence, 
our transition from Etymology to Syntax was complete. 
The student is recommended to read again the remarks on 
this difference which were made in Chapter xx., as they 
form a suitable introduction to the concluding section of 
this book. Syntax has to do with the relations of words to 
each other in sentences. To enable us intelligently to 
discuss these relations, it is essential that we should clearly 
understand the nature of a sentence, the elements of 
which it is composed, and the varieties of form which it 
assumes. 

220. We described a Sentence as a collection of words 
by which we say something about a thing. 

W. E. G. j 4 



2io ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GR A MALAR. 

This account of the nature of a sentence served our 
purpose at the time when we made use of it, but as a 
definition applicable to sentences generally it is clearly 
incomplete. A Sentence may express — 

(a) A Judgment; 'Birds fly/ 'The Bill will not pass,' 
'Brutus killed Caesar/ In such cases we do 'say something 
about a thing/ or ' make assertions/ and sentences of this 
kind we took as the type of sentences in general. But in 
other sentences we give utterance to — 

{b) A Command ; ' Come/ ' Give it me.' 

(c) A Question \ ' Will he come ? ' ' Did you go ? ' 

(d) A Wish ; ' Would he were here ! ' ' May you grow 
wiser ! ' ' God save the Queen !' 

These four varieties of sentences may be called (i) De- 
claratory, (2) Imperative, (3) Interrogative, (4) Optative. 

Shall we say then that a Sentence is a collection of 
words expressing a statement, command, question, or wish ? 
This would be an enumeration of different kinds of sentences 
rather than a definition of a Sentence itself; just as it would 
be no definition of a triangle, if one were to say that a 
triangle is an equilateral, isosceles, or scalene figure. 
Perhaps a better as well as a shorter definition is this : 

A Sentence is the complete expression of a 
thought in words. 

In defining the Subject and the Predicate of a Sentence, 
for the sake of simplicity and conciseness we shall take 
cognisance only of sentences in which statements are 
expressed : 

The Subject of the sentence is the word which 
stands for the thing about which the assertion 
is made. 

The Predicate is the word by which the asser- 
tion is made. 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 21 x 

221. The following points require careful notice : 

(1) The Subject of a Sentence is a word, but the 
assertion is made about the thing. When we say ' The sun 
shines/ the word sun is the subject of the sentence, but we 
do not assert that the word shines. 

(2) Our definition of the Subject of a Sentence, as the 
word which stands for the thing about which the assertion 
is made, has been attacked on the ground that, when we 
say * Brutus killed Caesar,' we make an assertion about 
Caesar as much as about Brutus: yet ' Caesar ' is not the 
Subject. To this criticism we may reply that, in the sentence 
* Brutus killed Caesar/ our assertion is made directly, or 
explicitly, about Brutus, but only indirectly, or by impli- 
cation, about Caesar. The assertion implied about Caesar 
is given in a direct form when we say 'Caesar was killed 
by Brutus/ 

(3) Cannot a sentence be formed by a single word? 
Is not ' Go ' a sentence ? 

Here the subject is understood, though not expressed. 
'Go' is equivalent to 'Go (you)/ and in analysing a sentence 
in the Imperative mood, we must supply the subject which 
is omitted in modern English. 

(4) The Predicate is a verb or contains a verb. The 
sentence 'Birds fly' contains a complete predicate 'fly/ But 
in 'They are/ 'I shall be/ 'You became/ 'Walpole was 
created/ something is wanting to make sense; the verbs are 
incomplete predicates and require a complement to 
produce a meaning : ' They are happy/ ' I shall be there/ 
'You became secretary/ 'Walpole was created Earl of 
Orford.' 

Again, some verbs need another verb in the Infinitive 
mood to carry on, or complete, their construction. Thus, 
' I wish/ ' You must/ are meaningless unless we supply, in 
thought or expression, some complement ; ' I wish to go/ 

14 — 2 



2i2 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1 You must remain] l We are able to pay] ' They ought to 
leave? These infinitives are called Prolative, because 
they ' carry on ' (Latin prof era, prolatum) the meaning of 
the preceding verb. 

222. Different kinds of subjects. As the subject 
of a sentence is the name of the thing about which we make 
an assertion, the subject of a sentence must be a noun or 
the equivalent of a noun. The following sentences illustrate 
different kinds of subjects : 

i. Noun :— > Birds fly.' 

2c Pronoun : — i They were defeated/ 

3. Infinitive: — 'To read good books improves the 
mind/ 

4. Adjective with noun understood :— ( Rich and poor 
live together/ 

5. Noun-clause : — < That he did it is certain.' 

223. When we join an adjective to a noun, we increase 
the meaning of the name and consequently limit its appli- 
cation. White horse suggests to our minds more attributes 
than horse, but is applicable as a name to only a smaller 
number of objects. As the adjective thus joined on to the 
noun attributes to the thing represented by the noun the 
possession of some quality, we call the adjective an attribu- 
tive adjunct to the noun, and the noun which stands as the 
subject of a sentence is said to be enlarged or expanded 
by the attributive adjunct. So, in the sentence * White 
horses are never driven in hearses/ the subject horses is 
enlarged or expanded by the attributive adjunct white; for 
though the number of things to which we could apply the 
name horse has been limited, or restricted, by the addition 
of the word white, the significance of white horse is greater 
than the significance of horse : horse denotes more things, 
but white horse implies more qualities. 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 213 

The enlargement or expansion of the Subject 
is effected by adjectives and their equivalents : — 

1. Adjective : — ' Good wine needs no bush/ 

2. Noun in Apposition :— ' Brunei, the engineer, 
designed the bridge.' 

3. Noun in the Possessive case: — ' Lucy's love 
restrained him,' or its equivalent with of, ' The love of Lucy 
restrained him/ 

4. Adjective-clause;— 'The man who stole the 
money was arrested/ 

5. Adjective-phrase: — 'The man, unsuspicious of 
any charge against him, left the town/ 

6. Participle : — -'The candidate, fuming and beaten, 
addressed the crowd/ 

224. The student must notice the word Phrase 
which is introduced here for the first time. Our vocabulary 
provides us with three words, Sentence, Clause ', and Phrase, 
of which we shall avail ourselves in this book in the following 
manner. A Sentence we have already defined and have 
distinguished three varieties, — Simple, Compound, and Com- 
plex. A Clause is a part of a sentence containing a finite 
verb : thus a Compound sentence must contain at least two 
co-ordinate clauses : * We stayed, but he left/ A Complex 
sentence must also contain at least two clauses, one prin- 
cipal, the other subordinate: 'We stayed, after he left/ 
A collection of words without a finite verb we shall call a 
Phrase. In the sentence 'The boy got the prize,' we may 
enlarge the subject 'boy' by an adjective, 'the industrious 
boy'; by an adjective-clause, 'the boy who was industrious'-, 
or by an adjective-phrase, 'the boy, possessed of industrious 
habits' Similarly we may enlarge the predicate by an adverb 
and say ' The boy got the prize easily ' ; by an adverbial- 
clause, * because nobody else went in for it' \ or by an adverbial- 
phrase, ' in a very easy fashion' 



2i 4 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

225. The Object of a verb is the word which 
stands for the thing towards which the action 
indicated by the verb is directed. 

There are the same possible substitutes for a noun as 
Object as there are for a noun as Subject in a sentence, and 
the Object can be enlarged in the same ways as those in 
which the Subject was shown to admit of enlargement. 
With a little reflexion the reader should be able to make 
his own sentences illustrating five different kinds of Object, 
and to enlarge the Object in six different ways. 

Many verbs take two Objects, one the Direct, 
the other the Indirect or Dative-like Object. The 
verbs teach, tell, give, lend, show, provide, refuse, get, are 
examples. The noun which represents the Indirect Object 
might be construed with a preposition : thus, ' Give (to) me 
the book/ 'Show (to) us the way,' 'Provide (for) him 
accommodation/ 'Get (for) me a cab/ See pp. 100, 144. 

226. By attaching an adjective to a noun, we increase 
the meaning of the noun and limit its application. In like 
manner by attaching an adverb to a verb, we increase the 
meaning of the verb and limit its application. 'Sings 
sweetly ' cannot be affirmed of as many individuals as 
simply 'sings/ but it signifies more. When we say of 
a prima donna 'She sings sweetly/ our statement goes 
further in the way of conveying information than the state- 
ment that 'she sings/ We may therefore describe the 
adverb sweetly as an enlargement or extension of the 
Predicate sings, because it adds to the meaning of the 
Predicate, though it narrows or restricts its application. 

The Object of a Transitive Verb has really the force of 
an Adverbial Adjunct. If we say ' He loves ' and then add 
'music/ 'Mary/ 'his country/ 'virtue/ and so on, we limit 
in each case the application of the Predicate, but we increase, 
or enlarge, or extend, the information which it contains. 
The relation of the Object to the Transitive Verb is one of 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 215 

such importance, however, that our analysis of sentences 
recognises it as distinct from the other adverbial adjuncts by 
which the Predicate is enlarged. 

The principal Adverbial Adjuncts by which the 
Predicate is extended or expanded are these: — 

1. Adverb: — 'She dances beautifully. 1 ■ 

2. Adverbial clause : — ' He left when I arrived? 

3. Adverbial phrase : — ' She dances in a beautiful 
style: 

4. Nominative Absolute: — i TIu door being open, 
the steed w r as stolen.' 

This last is a particular kind of Adverbial Phrase. 

227. Elliptical Sentences. In our ordinary use of 
language we save ourselves the trouble of making two sen- 
tences when one will express our meaning, and effect this 
economy by the use of conjunctions. Thus ' John and James 
preached in Jerusalem and Judaea ' contains four sentences 
in one: 'John preached in Jerusalem/ 'John preached in 
Judaea,' 'James preached in Jerusalem,' 'James preached in 
Judaea.' ' He is either a knave or a fool ' is equivalent to 
'Either he is a knave, or he is a fool.' 'He writes fast and 
well' means 'He writes fast, and he writes well' 

Again, we frequently contract our sentences, not by 
leaving out precisely the part which has been expressed 
already, but by leaving out >a part which is naturally sug- 
gested by what has gone before, though different from it. 
So, we say ' I like you better than he,' which means ' I like 
you better than he likes you 1 whereas ' I like you better 

than him ' would mean ' I like you better than / like him.' 

■ — ~w- 

* He is sharper than you ' is an abbreviated form of ' He is 

sharper than you are sharp: ' I would rather incur death 

than dishonour ' is an abbreviated form of ' I would rather 

incur death than / would incur dishonour.' 



216 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

In all such instances there is an omission of a word 
or words necessary to the complete grammatical 
structure of the sentence. This omission is called 
Ellipsis, and in analysing sentences of this elliptical 
character it is necessary to make them complete by supply- 
ing the missing words. 

228. The student is now in possession of all the infor- 
mation which is requisite to enable him to attack a sentence 
and break it up into its component parts. Analysis is a 
capital exercise for the wits, as it cannot be effected by the 
use of a set of rules mechanically applied. Nor is it to be 
learnt by merely reading a book on the subject, any more 
than by reading a treatise on swimming or cricket one 
could become proficient in the side-stroke or the cut. 
Books may furnish useful directions, but practice is the only 
way of acquiring these arts. And so, after giving a few 
suggestions to the reader as to how he should set to work, 
and supplying examples of analysis to guide him on points 
of form, we shall pass on to the treatment of other questions 
of Syntax. 

229. Hints for the Analysis of a Sentence. 

t 

i. Take a large sheet of paper and divide it into columns by ruling 
vertical lines.. At the head of these columns write * Sentence, Kind of 
Sentence, Subject, Adjuncts of Subject, Predicate, Adjuncts of Predicate, 
Object, Adjuncts of Object.' Instead of using the term Adjuncts, you 
can use the term Extension, Expansion, or Limitation, for, as we saw, 
the effect of an Adjunct is to produce an extension or enlargement of 
the information which we obtain from the^word to which the Adjunct is 
attached, and a limitation or restriction in the number of things to which 
the word is applicable. Again, instead of making one column for 
Predicate, you may, if you like, make two, in case you have to distin- 
guish between an Incomplete Predicate and its Complement. Similarly 
you may have separate columns for Direct and Indirect objects. But 
this excessive subdivision makes the sheet present a very complicated 
appearance and has few compensating advantages. These distinctions 
may be indicated equally well after the words which require them in the 
columns headed 'Predicate' and * Object'. 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 217 

There are Gther forms in which the analysis may be worked out, but 
the tabular form is certainly the neatest, and it possesses this clear 
superiority over the rest, that the person who corrects the exercise can 
see at a glance whether the essential points have been correctly grasped. 

2. Read the passage over and consider carefully whether it is a 
Simple, a Compound, or a Complex Sentence, with which you are dealing. 
Describe it accordingly at the top of the page. Remember that wherever 
you find a finite verb you have got a separate clause. Supposing that 
the Sentence is Complex, make sure that you pick out the Principal 
Clause correctly: a mistake here will turn the whole into nonsense. 
Then determine what is the relation of the different Subordinate Clauses 
to the parts of the Principal Clause. This general outline is the element 
of real value in the entire product. An elaborate analysis, brimful of 
details, crowded with subdivisions, and elegantly executed, is absolutely 
worthless, if it starts wrong and represents subordinate clauses as principal 
clauses. 

3. Write down the Principal Clause at the head of your analysis. 
Find its Subject ; then find its Predicate : then, if the verb is transitive, 
set down the Object. 

4. Next look for the Adjuncts of each. The Adjuncts of the 
Predicate will be adverbial. The Adjuncts of the Subject or Object will 
generally be adjectival, but not necessarily so: they may be nouns or 
noun-clauses in apposition. Thus in each of these sentences, 4 The 
statement that he has resigned is not true,' 'I don't believe the statement 
that he has resigned? the subordinate clause is a noun-clause in appo- 
sition with the subject and object respectively. 

Subordinate clauses must be dealt with in the same fashion as the 
Principal clause, — subject, predicate, and object, with the adjuncts of 
each, being placed in their proper columns, 

5. Complete the structure of sentences in which there is an ellipsis 
before you analyse them. Supply the subject to sentences containing a 
verb in the Imperative mood. 'Come' must be treated as if it were 
'Thou come' or 'You come.' Bear in mind that elliptical sentences 
expressing a comparison by means of than or as are complex : the clause 
in which the ellipsis occurs is a subordinate clause. Thus 'I am 
stronger than you' in full is "1 am stronger than you are strong * \ 'I 
am as strong as you ' in full is * I am as strong as you are strong. ' The 
clauses in italics are adverbial adjuncts. 

6. The interrogative pronouns may be treated like demonstratives 
and may form the subject or object of a sentence. In ' Who struck him ? ' 
who is the subject: in * Whom did he strike? ' whom is the object. The 
analysis is similar to that of the sentences i He struck him,' i Him did 
he strike,' i.e. 'He did strike him.' 

7. Observe that a clause introduced by relative pronouns or con- 
junctive adverbs is usually, though not necessarily, adjectival. In the 



2i8 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

sentence 'The man who stole the money was arrested' tne subordinate 
clause is adjectival, describing the man; but in 'I know who stole the 
money'' it is a noun-clause: it takes the place of the noun or pronoun, 
'the man' or 'him,' and refers to no other noun or pronoun as an ante- 
cedent. Compare 'I know the place where he is living^ (adjective- 
clause), and 'I know where he is living* (noun-clause). 

8. Observe also that these relative words sometimes introduce what 
is really not a subordinate but a co-ordinate clause. 'I met John who 
gave me your message ' is equivalent to ' I met John and he gave me your 
message' : C I saw him in London where he was living'' is equivalent to 
'I saw him in London: he was living there.' The clauses in italics 
make fresh statements and are not limitations of John and of London. 
They must therefore be analysed as principal sentences. 

9. A relative pronoun is often omitted when it represents the 
Object : it must be inserted in the analysis. So, ' Here is the book A I 
want' requires which as the object of want', ' The man ^ I saw yesterday' 
requires whom as the object of saw. 

10. Pure Conjunctions have no place in the analysis, because they 
serve merely to join sentences or clauses. Interjections are excluded, 
because they do not enter into the construction of the sentence. The 
same remark applies usually, but not invariably, to Vocatives, i.e. 
Nominatives of Address. Thus in ' O Solitude ! where are thy charms ?' 
the subject is charms, and Solitude must be left out from the analysis : 
but in 'O Solitude, thou hast no charms' the subject is thou, and 
Solitude may be described as an enlargement of the subject. 

11. An Absolute phrase is an adverbial adjunct of the Predicate. 
Do not mistake its noun or pronoun for the Subject of the sentence. In 
' The door being open, the steed was stolen,' the words in italics give the 
reason why the stealing was possible; the subject of the sentence is steed, 
not door. 

12. Notice that, when the verb comes before the real subject, the 
word // or There often stands at the beginning of the sentence : thus, 
' It is hard to earn a living, ' £ It is true that he did this. ' These assertions 
are equivalent to saying 'To earn a living is hard,' 'That he did this is 
true.' The it comes first as an indication that the real subject is to 
follow. In analysing such a sentence, however, 'It' may bewailed the 
subject, and the real subject may be regarded as an enlargement or 
adjunct. There is only the adverb without its full force as marking 
place. 'There are many pickpockets about' is grammatically the same 
as 'Many pickpockets are about there': there is an adverbial adjunct 
of the predicate. 

13. When a Complex Sentence contains as its Subject or Object 
a noun-clause, this noun-clause forms an essential part of the whole 
sentence and must be inserted as the Subject or Object of the principal 
verb. Thus, in the Complex Sentence "How he did it is not certain,' 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 219 

the words How he did it are the subject of the predicate 'is not certain.' 
In the Complex Sentence 'I know how he did itf the words how he 
did it are the object of the principal verb 'I know.' To indicate the 
relation of the Principal and the Subordinate clause in sentences of this 
kind, write the entire sentence at the head of your analysis, underline 
the subordinate clause, and add the information 'Noun-clause' at its 
close. The sentence 'How he did it is not certain' should be written 
thus: — 'How he did it (Noun Ci.) is not certain.' To describe as a 
Principal clause the words 'is not certain,' without supplying their 
subject, would be absurd. Similarly, the sentence 'I know how he did 
it ' should be written in this form : — ' I know hoiv he did if (Noun CL). 

230. Examples of analysis in tabular form. 

A. Go, lovely Rose ! 

Tell her, that wastes her time and me, 

That now she knows, 
When I resemble her to thee, 
How sweet and fair she seems to be. 



B. When a horseman, who had been sent to reconnoitre, 
reported that the Greeks were amusing themselves outside 
the walls, Xerxes asked what this madness might mean. 



C. As thro' the land at eve we went 

And pluck' d the ripened ears, 
We fell out, my wife and I, 

And kiss'd again with tears. 
And blessings on the falling out 

That all the more endears 
When we fall out with those we love 
And kiss again with tears ! 
Observe that the two clauses, When we fall out with those we love 
And kiss again with tears, may be regarded as adjectival adjuncts of 
falling out, instead of being taken as adverbial adjuncts of endears. 



2 2o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

A. Contains two Sentences : (I) Simple, (II) Complex. 

Prin. Clause of (II), Tell her that now she knows 6°c. (Noun CL). 



Sentence or Clause 


Kind of 
Sentence 


Subject 


Adjuncts of Subject 




| (I.) Go, lovely Rose 


Simple 


■ (Thou) 


lovely Rose 




(II.) Tell her ... 
seems to be 


Complex 


(Thou) 






that wastes her time 


Adj. CI. 
limiting her 


that 






that wastes me 


Adj. CL 

limiting her 


that 






that now she knows 
...seems to be 


Noun CL 


she 






how sweet and fair 
she seems to be 


Noun CL 


she 


• 




when I resemble her 


Adv. CL 


I 






to thee 


lira, knows 









B. 



When a horseman. 
mi<iht mean 



when a horseman... 
outside the walls 

who had been sent 
to reconnoitre 



that the Greeks... 
outside the walls 

what this madness 
might mean 



Complex 



Adv. CL 
lim. asked 

Adj. CL 
limiting 

horseman 

Noun CL 



Noun CL 



Xerxes 



horse- 
man 

who 



Greeks 



madness 



i. a 

2. who had been 
...to reconnoitre 



the 



this 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 



221 



B. A Complex Sentence. 

Prin. CI., Xerxes asked what this madness might mean (Noun CI.) 





Predicate 


Adjuncts of 
Predicate 


Object 


Adjuncts of Object 




g° 










tell 


her that... 
time and me 


That now... 
seems to be 


i 

1 




wastes 




time 


her 




wastes 




me 






knows 

seems In- 
complete to 
be how (i) 
sweet (2) 
fair Compl. 


1. now 

2. when I... 
her to thee 


how sweet 
and fair she 
seems to be 






resemble 


1. when 

2. to thee 


her 







asked 


when a 
horseman... 
walls 


what this... 
mean 






reported 


when 


that the... 
the walls 






had been 
sent 


to reconnoitre 








were amusing 


outside the 
walls 


themselves 






might mean 




what 





222 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

C. Contains two Sentences, (I) Compound and Complex, 

(II) Complex. 



Sentence or Clause 


Kind of 
Sentence 


j 

Subject j 


Adjuncts of Subject 




(I.) i. As through 
the land... my wife 
and I 


Complex 


we 


my wife and I 




As through the land 
at eve we went 


Adv. CI. 

limiting 
fell out 


we 






(As we) plucked the 
ripened ears 


Adv. CI. 
limiting 
fell out 


we 






•2. As through the 
land... (we) kissed a- 
gain with tears 


Complex 


we 






(II.) Blessings (be) 
on... with tears 


Complex 


Blessings 






That all the... with 
tears 


Adj. CI. 

limiting 

falling out 


that 






When we fall out with 
those we love 


Adv. CI. 
limiting 

endea?'s 


we 






(Whom) we love 


Adj. CI. 

limiting 

those 


we 






(When) we kiss again 
with tears 


Adv. CI. 

limiting 
endears 


v/e 







ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 

Principal Clauses of (I), I. We fell out. 

2. We kissed again with tears. 
Principal Clause of (II), Blessings on the falling out. 





Predicate 


Adjuncts of 
Predicate 


Object 


Adjuncts of Object 




fell out 


I . as through 

the land... 

we went 
2. as we 

plucked ... 

ears 








went 


through the 
land, at eve 








plucked 




ea,rs 


ripened 




kissed 


again with 
tears 

also adjuncts 
i &2 as above 








be IncompU 
on Compl. 




falling out 


that ail . . . with 
tears 




endears 


i. all the more 

2. when we... 

with tears 








fall out 


with those 
we love 








love 




whom 






kiss 


i. again 

2. with tears 







224 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

231. Directions for Parsing. 

In analysing a sentence, we break it up in such a 
manner as to show how it contains the essential constituents 
of every sentence, Subject and Predicate, and round these 
elements we group the remaining words, phrases, or clauses, 
as adjuncts: to one of these adjuncts of the predicate we 
assign a place apart from the other adverbial adjuncts and 
call it the Object. 

In parsing, we deal with every word in a sentence 
separately, stating its Part of Speech, its inflexion, if it has 
any, and its syntactical relations with other words in the 
sentence. Thus parsing is concerned with both the etymo- 
logy and syntax of words, whilst analysis takes no cognisance 
of etymology. 

Unless the student is directed to give a history of the 
forms of the words, in addition to stating their parts of 
speech and particulars connected with their accidence and 
syntax, he may feel satisfied that he is carrying out his 
instructions to "parse fully" when he furnishes the following 
information : — 

i. Noun and Pronoun. State the kind of noun or pronoun, its 
gender, number, case, and give the reason why the word is in that case. 
The gender of a pronoun cannot always be determined. 

2. Adjective. State the kind of adjective and its degree, and what 
word it limits. As adjectives (except this and that) undergo no in- 
flexions of number, gender, or case, it is better to speak of them as 
' limiting ' nouns than as ' agreeing ' with nouns. * Agreement ' suggests 
inflexion. 

3. Verb. State the kind of verb, its voice, mood, tense, number, 
person ; the subject with which it agrees, and its object, if it has one. 

Participle. State the kind of verb of which it is a participle, its 
voice and tense, and show which word it limits; also mention its object, 
if it has one. The participle used in combination with auxiliaries to 
form a compound tense need not be parsed separately, though it may 
be parsed in this way. So, shall have been beaten, were beating, may 
have been beating, are adequately parsed as compound tenses, but the 
student should understand the construction of the separate words. 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 225 

4. Adverb. State the kind of adverb ; its degree, if it is an adverb 
of quality admitting of this modification : name the word which it limits, 
or ' qualifies.' The latter is the term generally used of adverbs. 

5. Preposition. Name the noun which it * governs,' that is to say, 
the noun whose relation to other words it shows. 

6. Conjunction. Say whether it is co-ordinate or subordinate, and 
point out what it joins. 

Abbreviations may be used with advantage, but not 
in such a way as to cause ambiguity. The particulars 
should be given in uniform order and as concisely as 
possible. The following examples of parsing illustrate these 
directions. 



Can I forget the dismal night that gave 
My souVs best part for ever to the grave ! 
How silent did his old companions tread, 
By midnight lamps, the mansions of the dead. 

Can verb defect, intrs. of incompl. predication, — act. indie, pres. 
sing. 1 st. — agreeing with I. 

/ pers. pron. of 1st pers. — sing. nom. — subj. of can. 

forget verb, strong, trans. — act. infin. pres. — prolative infin. de- 
pending on can\ has for object night. 

that pronoun relat. — referring to anteced. night, subj. of gave. 

soul's noun com. — neut. sing, possess. — dependent on part. 

ever adv. of time, used here as substitute for noun : 'for ever ' = * for 
all time.' 

how adv. of degree — qualif. silent. 

silent adj. of quality, posit. — used as adv. of manner qualif. tread, 
or as adj. limiting companions. 

midnight noun sing. — neut. sing. — used as adj. limiting lamps. 

mansions noun com. — neut. plur., — object of tread, 

II. 

For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, 
This pleasing anxious being eer resigned, 

Left the warm precincts of the cheerful day, 
Nor cast one longing, lingering look behind? 

W. E. G. 15 



226 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

For conj. subord. (Some writers take it as co-ord.) 
who pron. interrog. — masc. or fern., sing. — subj. of resigned, 
forgetfulness noun abstr. — neut. sing, objective, — gov. by to. 
a demonst. adj. (or indef. art.) — limiting prey, 
prey noun com. — neut. sing. nom. — in appos. with who. 
this pronom. adj. demonst. — sing. — limiting being, 
being noun abstr. — neut. sing. — object of resigned, 
e'er adv. of time — qualif. resigned. 

left verb, weak, trans. — act. indie, past indef. sing. 3rd, — agreeing 
with who', has for object precincts. 

precincts noun com.— neut. plur. — object of left. 

one adj. quant, card. num. — limiting look. 

longing pres. part. act. of verb long, — used as adj. limiting look. 

look noun com. — neut. sing. — object of cast* 

behind adv. of place — qual. cast. 

III. 
He had laid him low. 
It were best let alone. 
Choose whom you will, we will pay him respect. 

laid participle past, passive, of trans, verb 'lay,' limiting him. (If 
had laid were parsed in combination, it would be described as verb, 
weak, trans. — act. indie, past perf. sing. 3rd, — agreeing with he.) 

low adj. of qual. used as adv. — qualif. laid. 

were verb defect, of incompl. predication, — act. subj. past, indef. 
sing. 3rd, — agreeing with it. 

best adj. of qual. — superl. — complement of predic. were and limit- 
ing it. 

let participle past passive, of trans, verb let, — limiting it. 

alone adj. of qual. — limiting it. 

choose verb, strong, trans. — act. imperat. plur. 2nd, — agreeing with 
you understood: has for obj. him understood. 

whom pronoun relat. — referring to suppressed anteced. him, masc. 
sing, object of will (choose), the full constr. being choose you him whom 
you will choose. 

him pronoun demonstr. of 3rd pers. — masc. sing, objective, — 
indir. obj. of pay. 

Questions. 

1. What is a sentence? What are the necessary parts of every 
sentence? Write down the shortest sentence you can compose, and 
show that these necessary parts are comprised therein. Give examples 
showing how each part may be expanded. 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 227 

2. What is the subject in the following sentence? — 'It makes no 
part of my present subject, to detail how the success of a few ballads 
had the effect of changing all the purpose and tenour of my life.' 

3. Are the following exclamations sentences? — • Go.'— ' Hence.' — 

* Yes.' 

[How much may be left out of a sentence without its ceasing to be a 
sentence ? Make use of your answer to this question as a principle to 
determine your answers about 'Go' and 'Hence.' As regards 'Yes,' 
the matter is different. Here we get beyond mere ellipsis. ' Yes ' is a 
substitute for a sentence rather than a sentence from which part has 
been omitted.] 

4. Explain the meaning of subject, predicate, and copula, and point 
out each of them and their expansions in the following sentence : — 

' Is this a dagger that I see before me ? ' 
[For copula see p. 177, Question 1.] 

5. What is the subject in each of the following sentences? 

* Who is this?' 

' Give me your hand.' 

4 There is said to have been a battle.' 

'His horse being killed, he was taken prisoner.' 

6. Define the subject of a sentence, and give one example of each 
of five different kinds of subjects. 

7. In what cases may the subject be omitted in English? 
Explain the construction of methought in the sentence — ' Methought 

the billows spoke and told me of it. ' 

[The subject may be omitted (1) With verbs expressing a command: 

* Go ' (you); or (2) a wish, ' (I) Would it were so ! ' (3) The antecedent 
to the relative is sometimes omitted: '(He) Who breaks, pays.' (4) Im- 
personal verbs of course have no subject.] 

8. Point out the subject, predicate, and object, with their exten- 
sions, in the following: — 

* At once his trusty sword the warlike chieftain drew.' 

9. Make use of the words horse, kick, man, as subject, predicate, 
object, respectively, to form one sentence in which (a) the subject is 
enlarged by an adjective clause, {b) the predicate is enlarged by an 
adverbial clause relating to cause, 

10. Distinguish between a phrase and a sentence, 

4 The Saxons invaded England.' Write out this sentence (a) with 
the predicate extended by a prepositional phrase, (b) with the predicate 
extended by an adverbial clause relating to time, 

[A ' prepositional phrase ' is a phrase composed of a preposition and 
a noun. As the prepositional phrase here is to extend the predicate, it 
must have an adverbial force, describing how, why, when, or where, the 

15—^ 



228 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Saxons invaded England: e.g. 'in pirate-boats,' 'with a fair wind,' 
1 from a desire for pillage,' * after the departure of the Romans,' ' on the 
coast of Sussex.'] 

ii. Write a sentence containing two extensions of the predicate, 
and let one of these contain an object with two enlargements of different 
kinds. 

12. Name t*he three kinds of subordinate clauses. Explain why 
an adjective clause is so called. State to which kind each of the sub- 
ordinate clauses in the three following sentences belongs, and give your 
reason : — 

* I asked where he lived.' 

1 1 have often seen the house where he was born.' 

' 1 shall sit where you wish.' 

13. State and explain the various terms used in the Analysis of 
Sentences. 

14. Write three sentences, introducing in the first a clause equivalent 
to a noun, in the second a clause equivalent to an adjective, in the third 
a clause equivalent to an adverb. 

15. Construct a complex sentence with two subordinate clauses 
of different kinds, and state the relation of each to the principal 
clause. 

16. ' The thief avoided the policeman.' 
Rewrite the above sentence — 

(1) enlarging the subject with a noun in apposition, 

(2) enlarging the object with an adjectival clause, 

(3) extending the predicate with an absolute phrase. 

17. Rewrite the subjoined sentences, supplying in full the words 
required to make the construction of the subordinate clauses complete, 
and describe each such clause : — 

(a) * She sings worse than ever. ' 

(b) ' Better late, 

Our proverb says, than never to do well.' 

(c) * Things happened precisely as you guessed.' 

18. To what Parts of Speech do the following words belong 1— fifty, 
few, kill, cavalry, their, those, sheer, pell-mell, as, why, bravo. 

19. Parse the following italicised words: 

(i) * When you are established in the house where you intend to 
reside, I will call on you, ifil may.' 

(ii) * I had but one house, as you know : since then I have bought 
another.' 



ANALYSIS AND PARSING. 229 

20. Parse the italicised words in the following sentences: — 'Have 
you any}* * No, I have none.'* ' When did you come?' ' Why is he 
here?' ' He went away rejoicing.* 'This is talking at random.* 'It 
is not true that he said that. ' ' I saw the same as he did. ' 

21. Parse the italicised words: — ' Which is which}* 'He was 
forgiven the fault* ' The lady protests too much, methinks* ' Perish 

the thought ! ' ' The ship is building* ' Sit thee down.' ' I saw him 
taken* 'So be it.' 

22. Parse these sentences: — 'In the front of the eye is a clear 
transparent window, exactly like the glass of a watch. ' 

' When a man falls from his horse, he is often seriously hurt.' 
' He rushed into the field, and foremost fighting fell.' 

' Life has passed 
1 With me but roughly since I heard thee last.' 

23. To what parts of speech would you refer the following words? — 
next, no, the, together, past, else, but, ere. 

[Else is an adverb signifying 'besides.' In the compound phrases 
anybody else or somebody else it takes the possessive inflexion, anybody 
else's, somebody else*s. ] 

24. Parse the italicised words in the following sentences: — 'Please 
write clearly.' ' Thank you.' 'Thanks* 'You can if you like* 
' Get you gone.' * He was accused of cheati7ig. * ' He was accused of 
having cheated* 

[The construction of please was formerly impersonal, but ' It pleases 
me ' has become ' I please,' as ' It likes me ' has become ' I like.' We 
may regard write as infinitive dependent on Please, — 'May you please 
(i.e. May it please you) to write clearly,' — or we may regard it as an 
imperative, — ' Write clearly, if you please, (i.e. if it please you'). 

The construction in the last sentence, though in common use, has 
been condemned by some writers as grammatically indefensible, on the 
ground that of should be followed by the gerund, whilst having cheated 
is the past participle. The objection would be valid if having cheated 
were indeed a past participle here, but it is not: it is a compound 
gerund form. (See § 16-2, 6.) Just as we say ' He was supposed to have 
(Infinitive) cheated,' so we may say 'He was accused of having (Gerund) 
cheated,' ' He was rejected for having cheated.'] 



23° 



CIIArTER XXIII. 
Syntax of Nouns. 

232. Syntax deals with the relations of words when 
they are arranged so as to form sentences. Most of these 
relations come under the heads of Concord and Govern- 
ment. By Concord we mean the agreement of two or more 
connected words, as regards their gender, number, case, or 
person. By Government we mean the influence exercised 
upon the case of a noun or pronoun by another word : 
thus a transitive verb or a preposition is said to l govern' 
a noun. Owing to the scanty supply of inflexions in modern 
English, the relation of a word to other words in the 
sentence is often indicated by its position. Hence we may 
say that syntax has to do with the Order or Arrange- 
ment of words, as well as with their Concord and 
Government. 

The principles of Syntax might be enumerated under 
these three heads, but the student will obtain a clearer view 
of the subject, if we deal with the Syntax of the different 
parts of speech in succession, as we have already dealt with 
their Etymology. In our treatment of the meaning and use 
of words, we discussed many points which belong strictly 
to Syntax. What remains to be done in this section of the 
book is to give a short summary of these and to supply 
others which have been omitted. 



SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 231 

Syntax of Nouns. Our remarks on the Syntax of 
Nouns may be grouped most conveniently under the 
different cases. 

Nominative Case. 
233. The Nominative case is used — 

(1) When a noun stands as the Subject of a sentence, 
whether the verb of which it is the subject be active or 
passive : ' He works/ ' I have been wounded/ The concord 
of the verb with its subject is discussed under the Syntax 
of Verbs. 

(2) As a Vocative, or Nominative of Address : 
' Milton 1 thou shouldst be living at this hour.' 

(3) To complete the predicate after certain intran- 
sitive verbs of incomplete predication : such verbs as to be, 
become, continue, seem, feel, often require a complement : ' He 
became prime minister,' ' I continued secretary/ ' He 
seemed and felt a hero.' 

(4) With certain transitive verbs in the passive 
to complete the meaning : ' He was made secretary/ 
1 1 was appointed treasurer/ ' You were called John.' Such 
transitive verbs are called factitive or 'making' verbs, 
because the verb 'to make' (Lat. facto) is a type of the 
class. 

(5) When a noun is in apposition with another noun 
in the nominative. 

(6) When the noun or pronoun, combined with a 
participle, is in the absolute construction. Thus, 'The 
door being \open, the steed was stolen/ ' My partner having 
returned, I shall go for my holiday.' 

(Abso/utus means in Latin 'set free' or 'untied': an 
absolute phrase can be detached without affecting the con- 
struction of the sentence.) 

It is disputed whether the case of the noun in the 
absolute construction is really the nominative in modern 



232 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

English. In old English it was the dative. As the dative 
ending has disappeared from our nouns, it is only when„pne 
of the personal pronouns is used that we can still see what 
the case actua lly is . Should_we say 'He excepted' or 'Him 
excepted ' ? ' / returning ' or ' Me returning ' ? It scarcely 
admits of doubt that the nominative would be preferred to 
the objective as the a bsolute c ase at the present day. 

234. The following sentences illustrate a very common 
blunder in connexion with the use of the participle in a 
construction which is meant to be absolute butisjiot. 

' Walking across the common,, my hat was knocked of! 
by a cricket-bahV 

As the sentence stands, walking is a par ticipi al adjunct 
of hat, and the construction is therefore ' My hat walking 
across the comrrion was knocked off by a cricket-ball/ 
which is absurd. The required correction may be made 
in various ways : (i) By_c_Qrapleting the absolute phrase. 
Add the missing pronoun and say ' I walking across the 
common, my hat was knocked off/ This makes the syntax 
regular, but the expression would be unusual. (2) By 
substituting 'I had my fa^t Tcnnr.kpH off' for ' my hat_w as 
knocked off.' / is then the subject, and walking across the 
common is quite rightly the adjunct .of./", instead of being 
the adjunct of my hat as befpre. " (3) By converting the 
participle into a past imperfect tense indicative. Say 'As 
I was walking across the common, my hat was knocked 
off.' 

'Going into the garden, the grass wetted my feet.' We 
may correct this by substituting (1) C I going into the garden 
(absolute phrase), the grass wetted my feet/ or (2) ' Going 
into the garden, I wetted my feet in the grass/ or (3) 'On 
my going (gerund) into the garden, the' grass wetted my 
feet.' The first expression is one which nobody would ever 
employ, but it is grammatically correct. A captious critic 



SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 233 

may raise the further objection that, as my feet were wetted, 
probably after I had reached the garden and not on my 
way thither, having gone is more likely to suit the facts than 
going. 

235. Apposition. This is a suitable point at which 
we may bring together remarks on Apposition that would 
otherwise be scattered in various parts of the book. 

When one noun is used to explain the mean- 
ing of another, it is put in the same case, usually 
in the same number, if possible in the same gender, 
and is said to be in Apposition. The following sentences 
contain nouns in apposition : 

* Turner, the baker, lives here': Turner is the subject, 
the baker is in the nominative case in apposition. 

1 1 saw Turner, the baker ' : both nouns are in the 
objective case. 

'This is Turner's, the baker's, shop': both nouns are in 
the possessive case. 

In practice we rarely employ the last form of expression. 
Instead of saying 'This is Turner's, the baker's, shop,' we 
should say ' This is Turner the baker's shop.' Here there 
is no apposition, but Turner-the-baker is treated as a com- 
pound noun. Identity of case is essential to appo- 
sition. 

The noun in apposition usually agrees in number, but 
not necessarily: a collective noun in the singular may be 
used in apposition with a noun in the plural, and vice versd : 
' Four hundred boys, the whole school, turned out to receive 
him ' : c This year's team, eleven well-tried men, will give a 
good account of themselves.' 

Owing to the absence of any appropriate feminine form, 
it is often impossible to mark a concord of gender between 
the noun in apposition and the noun to which it refers. 
Thus we have to say ' Scott the novelist,' or ' writer,' and 



234 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

'Miss Evans the novelist,' or ' writer/ as no feminine of 
novelist or writer exists. But we should say * Scott the poet/ 
or 'author/ and 'Miss Evans the poetess/ or 'authoress/ 
making the noun in apposition agree as regards gender when 
it is practicable to do so. 

236. Order of the Noun in the Nominative 
Case. The subject precedes the verb, as a general rule, 
but comes after it — 

i. in questions : ' Did you say so ? ' 

ii. in commands : ' See thou to that.' 

iii. in certain uses of the subjunctive mood : * Were he here, you 
would not say this, ' ' Would I could find him ! ' ' May you prosper ! ' 

iv. when nor precedes the verb : * I said I would not do it, nor will 
I,' 'He wanted only a pretext, nor was he long in finding one.' 

v. in the phrases 'said 1/ 'quoth he,' 'answered he,' etc. 

vi. when the sentence is introduced by there, as ■ There are some 
who deny this.' 

vii. for emphasis: 'Great is Diana,' 'Indeed will I, quoth Findlay.' 

Possessive Case. 

237. Possession is only one of the relations 
indicated by nouns in the possessive case: ' John's 
hat' means 'the hat possessed by John'; 'the master's 
cane* means 'the cane possessed by the master/ But 
' Byron's poems ' does not mean ' the poems possessed by 
Byron ' \ ' Peel's Act ' does not mean ' the Act possessed by 
Peel ' ; ' Cade's insurrection ' does not mean ' the insur- 
rection possessed by Cade'; 'an hour's detention' does 
not mean ' the detention possessed by an hour.' The term 
possessive is therefore inadequate as a description of the 
functions performed by this case. 

What feature is common to all these uses of the so- 
called possessive case ? The common feature is this : the 
noun in the possessive has the limiting force of 
an adjective. Just as 'John's hat' is a particular kind 
of hat, so * Byron's poems ' are a particular kind of poems. 



SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 235 

' Cade's insurrection ' is a particular kind of insurrection, 
and ' an hour's detention ' a particular kind of detention. 

The Latin word for ' kind ' is genus, and we might therefore call 
the case which marks the kind the generic case. Perhaps this is what 
the Roman grammarians thought they were doing when they called it 
the genitive case. But * genitive ' in its proper sense has a much narrower 
meaning and signifies 'belonging to birth or origin. 5 It is appropriate 
to describe the case of father 's when we speak of 'the father's son,' 
because the son derives his birth or origin from the father; but it is not 
appropriate to describe the case of son's when we speak of 'the son's 
father,' because the father did not derive his birth or origin from the 
son 1 . Now the term 'generic' would describe the case equally well in 
both instances : ' the father's son ' is a particular kind of son, ' the son's 
father ' is a particular kind of father. We cannot however displace 
either the term 'possessive' or the term 'genitive,' though each is insuf- 
ficient as a description of the relations often marked by words in the 
possessive or genitive case. With these criticisms on the terms w T e will 
go on to consider the syntax of the so-called possessive case. 

238. The Substitute for the Inflected Posses- 
sive Case. 

The preposition of, with the objective case of the noun 
which follows it, takes the place of the inflected possessive 
and is used in many instances in which the inflected form 
would be inadmissible. Thus instead of saying 'the 
master's cane ' we can say * the cane of the master ' ; for 
* Byron's poems/ 'Cade's insurrection,' 'an hour's detention,' 
we can say 'the poems of Byron,' 'the insurrection of Cade,' 
' a detention of an hour.' It is only the inflected form how- 
ever that is to be called a possessive case : ' of Byron ' must 
not be parsed as the possessive, but 'Byron' must be parsed 
as the objective governed by the preposition of For if 
'of Byron' is entitled to the name 'possessive case,' 'to 
Byron' has an equally good claim to the name 'dative,' 
and 'from Byron' to the name 'ablative.' But if 'to Byron' 
and 'from Byron' are cases, on what ground are we to 

1 See Max Muller*? Lectures on the Science of Language, ist series, 
p. 105. 



236 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

refuse to describe as cases the combinations ' about Byron/ 
' through Byron/ 'in Byron/ 'on Byron/ and so forth? 

239. Subjective and Objective Genitive. The 
genitive case is described as subjective or objective 

according as the noun in the genitive stands for the subject 
or for the object of the action denoted by the word on 
which it depends. Thus ' Carlyle's praises ' may signify 
either (i) 'Carlyle praised somebody': here Carlyle is the 
subject of the proposition, and the genitive is subjective: 
or (2) 'Somebody praised Carlyle': here Carlyle is the 
object of the proposition, ancPthe gen itive is o bjective. 
The expression is used in the f ormer way when we say 
' Carlyle's praises .were rarely bestpwed ' : it is used in the 
latter way when we say ' Carlyje's praises were loudly sung/ 
'Ravaillac's murder ' is subjective, 'Henry IWs murder* 
is objective. Not that we can combine the two inflected 
forms in the same sentence and say 'Ravaillac's Henry IV. 's 
murder.' We should have to employ the preposition of to 
denote the objective relation and say 'Ravaillac's murder 
of Henry IV.,' 'Ruskin's praises of Carlyle.' Speaking 
generally, we may say that the inflected form is sub jec tive 
in modern English. The form made by combination with 
the preposition of admits of the same double use : ' the 
persecution of the Puritans' is objective wh eji wg say 'The 
persecution of the Puritans drove them to Massachusetts': 
it is subjective when we say 'The Quakers of New England 
suffered from the persecution of the Puritans.' 

240. How are we to explain such expressions as 'a 

novel of Scott's/ 'a play of Shakespeare's'? 

They are not pleonastic, that is to say, they do not contain any 
redundancy or excess of expression. On the contrary they are elliptical, 
a noun being left out on which the noun in the possessive case depends. 
The complete expression would be ■ a novel of Scott's novels/ 'a play of 
Shakespeare's plays. ' Hence we cannot properly say ' a father of John's/ 
though we can say *a brother of John's.' for *a father of John's fathers ' 



SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 237 

would be absurd. As a fact however we do employ this elliptical con- 
struction for purposes of disparagement, real or pretended, in cases 
where it is logically in dejensjfcle. Thus we say ' that disreputable old 
father of John's/ * this sweet wee wife of mine.' 

There are other ellipses, or omissions, of the noun which ought to 
follow the noun in the possessive case, and these we have to supply 
according to the sense required by the context. * He goes to St Paul's ' 
may signify in different connexions 'St Paul's cathedral,' 'St Paul's 
school,' or 'St Paul's station.' 'A picture of AgnewV and 'a picture 
of Gainsborough's' alike require the word 'pictures' to supply the 
ellipsis, but in the former case the meaning is 'belonging to Agnew,' in 
the latter ' painted by Gainsborough. ' 

241. How are we to explain such expressions as ' the 
city of Rome/ l the month of June ' ? 

When we bear in mind that the function of the noun in the genitive 
case is to limit the application of the noun on which it depends, the 
explanation of such phrases as 'the cit^ orRome,' 'the month of June,' 
seems fairly simple. ' The city of Rome ' is a particular city, ' the month 
of June' a particular month, just as 'the top of the mountain ' is a par- 
ticular top. We do not say 'the river of, Rhone' but we might have 
done so : we use river and Rhone in apposition. It is merely a matter 
of idiom, or form of expression peculiar to our language. The Latin 
idiom was to say 'city Rome,' Urbs Roma; our idiom is to say 'city 
of Rome. ' 

The construction of two nouns in apposition in the possessive case 
has been already discussed. 

242. Order. The inflected possessive always stands 
before the njaun on which it depends ; * Carlyle's praise/ 
i the master's cane/ The preposition of and its noun in 
the objective usually come after the governing noun : ' the 
praise of Carlyle/ 'the cane of the master/ But for em- 
phasis this order may be inverted : i Of the spoil each 
man received a share/ ' Of_yirtue a great part consists in 
this.' 

Objective Case. 

243. The objective case in modern English marks 
relations which are expressed in Latin by the accusative and 
by the dative. It is the case both of the direct and of the 
indirect object The following are its chief uses. 



238 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The objective is the case — 

(i) of the direct object of a transitive verb : * Brutus killed him" 

(2) of the factitive object : 'They made him consul? ' He called her 
Mary? 'We thought him a lunatic.' 

(3) of the noun of kindred meaning which sometimes follows in- 
transitive verbs: 'I dreamt a drep,m? 'He slept a sound sleeps This is 
called the cognate^ objective. See p. 137. 

(4) of the noun in apposition to another in the objective : 'They 
slew him, their archbisfyopT* 

(5) of the adverbial adjunct of the predicate, marking limitations as 
regards time, space, or manner : ' We stayed zgear? ' The ditch is three 
yards wide,' 'This is worth half-a-crown? 

(6) of nouns governed by prepositions : ' He plays for money? 

(7) of the indirect object: the noun in this case stands for the thing 
to or on behalf of which the thing is done. The verb 'to give ' may be 
taken as the type of verbs which are followed by an indirect object: 
'Give me (indir. obj.) the book' (dir. obj.). 

(8) of the pronoun in the two surviving impersonals, methinks, 
meseems. 

(9) after the adjectives like, worth, and near: 'like me? 'worth us 
two together,' ' near him? 

(10) of the person for whose advantage a thing is done, or by whom 
it is regarded with interest : these uses correspond with the Dativus 
Co?nmodi and Dativus Ethicus of the Latin Grammar. ' Do me this 
favour ' is an example of the Dativus Commodi, or Dative of Advantage ; 
me signifies for me. 'Just as I was approaching, he whips me out his 
dagger ' : here me marks merely the fact that the speaker had an interest 
in the action : it gives a lively touch to the narrative. Me is called the 
Ethical Dative. 

The Retained or Adverbial Object. 

The reader will remember that many transitive verbs which take two 
objects in the active voice, may retain either of these as its object in the 
passive. Thus 'He taught me music' converted into the passive be- 
comes cither ' I was taught music by him,' or ' Music was taught me by 
him.' In the first form, music y in the second, me, may be described as 
the Retained Object after the passive verb. Or we may describe music 
and me as adjuncts of the predicate, or adverbial objectives. Just as 
we call 'three miles,' 'three hours,' adverbial objectives when we say 
'He walked three miles,' ' He walked three hours,' — objectives because 
they are in the objective case (though there is no inflexion of the nouns 
from which we can see this) and adverbial because they limit or qualify 
the statement that 'he walked,' — so we may call music an adverbial 
objective limiting the statement that he 'taught me,' or me an adverbial 
objective limiting the statement that he 'taught music' 



SYNTAX OF NOUNS. 239 

244. Order. The noun in the objective case usually 
follows the verb or the preposition by which it is governed. 
But— 

(1) When the word in the objective case is a relative or 
interrogative pronoun, it comes before the verb : ' The book 
which you gave me/ ' Which book did you give me?' 

(2) When that is used as a r elati ve and governed by 
a preposition, trie preposition comes at the end of the 
sentence : ' This is the book that you told me o£. ' When 
who or which are used as relatives and governed by pre- 
positions, they may stand before or after the prepositions : 
' This is the man of whom and that is the book of which 
you told me/ or ' This is the man whom you told me of, 
and that is the book which you told me of/ 

(3) For emphasis the noun in the objective case is some- 
times placed before the verb : l Jesus I know, and Paul I 
know, but who are ye ? ' ' Silver and gold have I none/ 



245. Correction of Sentences. In his school exer- 
cises the student is sometimes required to alter the construc- 
tion of faulty sentences. His aim should be to make them 
formally correct by the introduction of the smallest changes 
which are necessary for the removal of obscurity or error. 
A free paraphrase of an ungrammatical passage suggests an 
evasion of the difficulty. Thus ' I went into the garden 
and wetted my feet in the grass' expresses grammatically 
the meaning which the sentence 'Going into the garden, 
the grass wetted my feet ' was intended to convey. But this 
new version raises a doubt whether the nature of the mistake 
has been grasped by the pupil. To take another illustration ; 
the sentence i Shakespeare is greater than any dramatist ' is 
corrected, if we say ' Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist/ 
but this correction might be made by one who had failed to 
see anything amiss with the sentence in its original form. 



240 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

If, on the other hand, we insert the word other and write 
1 Shakespeare is greater than any other dramatist, 7 we intro- 
duce the minimum of alteration and put our finger on the 
faulty spot. 

246. Examples of the erroneous use of the participle are furnished 
in the following sentences. Rewrite them correctly. 
' Being a fine day, I went out for a walk.' 
[To correct this sentence we may either — 
(i) Complete the absolute phrase and say 'It being,' or — 
(2) Substitute an adverbial clause for being and say ' As it was.'] 

* Sailing in a yacht, the coast seems to move faster than we.' 

' Courting the favour of neither rich nor poor, success attended his 

career.' 

' Foiled and disgraced, his candidature was abandoned. ' 

'Louis was in some respects a good man, but being a bad ruler his 

subjects rebelled.' 

'Being early killed, I sent a party in search of his mangled body.' 

' Having failed in this attempt, no further trial was made.' 

' Travelling along the line, the tower of the castle came in sight.' 

'Judging from the time taken, the race was rowed quicker than in 
all previous years.' 

' Having perceived the weakness of his poems, they now reappear to 
us under new titles.' 

* Vainly endeavouring to suppress his emotion, the service was 
abruptly brought to an end.' 

1 Left for dead upon the ground, his companions rushed to his 
assistance.' 

1 Arrived at the spot, a scene of horror presented itself to their eyes.' 

' Hastily discussing the position of affairs, prompt measures were 
adopted and a telegram was sent to the police station.' 

' Not having had the accounts of the company properly audited for 
some years, it was resolved by the directors that the services of an 
accountant should be secured.' 



241 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Syntax of Adjectives and Pronouns. 

I. Adjectives. 

247. Adjectives limit nouns attributively and pre- 
dica^ively. When we say 'a clever boy,' the use of the 
adjective is attributive: when we say 'The boy is clever/ it 
is predicative. With certain transitive verbs of incomplete 
predication, such as make, think, call, consider, an adjective 
is used fact iji yelv to complete the statement: 'They 
made, or thought, or called, or considered, him clever/ 

Some adjectives can be used only predicatively. We 
can say 'The man is afraid, or aw T ake, or well, or ill/ 
but not 'the afraid man,' 'the awake man/ 'the well or 
ill man.' Sometimes an adjective changes its meaning when 
it is used attributively : ' He is a son y fool ' does not 
signify the same thing as ' The fool is jsorry.' 'Glad ' can be 
used attributively in only a few connexions : ' glad tidings/ 
'glad heart.' 

248. Concord. To speak of the agreement of the 
Adjective with its Noun in modern English is to use a term 
which seems scarcely appropriate, for the inflexions marking 
gender and case have disappeared entirely from English 
adjectives; and the demonstratives this and that are the 
only adjectives which admit of the inflexion of number. 

w. e. g. 1 6 



242 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Collective nouns in the singular are often followed by 
verbs in the plural, but they cannot be preceded by these 
or those. It is a common error to say ' these sort/ ' those 
kind.' 

'Those sort of things do not affect me at all.' The best way of 
correcting this is to say 'Things, of t hat sor t do not.' There is a, 
harshness whether we say ' That sort" of things do not, ' or ■ That sort 
things does not,' though either expression admits of defence, if sort/is 
a collective noun signifying 'class.' But if sort is an abstract nomn, 
equivalent in meaning to 'description,' each of these forms of expression 
is illogical, for it is the things, and not the description of the things, by 
which the effect is produced. 

249. The constructions of many are curious. We may 
use many as an adjective and say *manxn>ses/ or 'marly a 
rose/ with the idea of plurality in both instances. We can 
also speak of 'a great many roses/ where the adjective great 
limits the adjective many, unless we suppose that many is 
here a noun and that the full expression would be ' a great 
many proses.' AT any is used as a noun when we talk of 
'the conflict between the few and the many' Notice the 
difference of meaning between 'few' and 'aj^w.' Few means 
'not many': a few means 'some.' Less is often wrongly 
used where fewer would be the right word. Less denotes 
quantity* few r denotes number. Hence we ought not to 
say 'No less than twenty persons were present. ' 

250. Each, every, either, neither, are distributives, and 
their construction is therefore singular. Hence the following 
are wrong : 

6 Each of the boys read in their turn^ We may alter each of to all, 
making turn plural, or we may alter their to his. 

'They followed each in their turn.' 

This sentence is not on precisely the same footing as the last, for if 
we substitute his for their, we may be making a mistake, as they may 
mean women, or both men and women. Supposing that 'they' refers 
to both men and women, are we to say 'his or her turn respectively'? 
This phraseology is suggestive of a legal document rather than of 



SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES. 243 

ordinary diction. In such a case two courses are open to us, — to say 
simply 'in turn,' or to dispense with the each and say all. 

The use of adjectives as adverbs has been dealt 
with on p. 183, and of adjectives as nouns on p. 106. 

251. Errors in connexion with the use of the com- 
parative and the superlative degree are illustrated in 
the following passages: 

1. Use of the superlative when few^er than three things 
ar e^comp are d— 

'Of London and Paris the former is the wealthiest.* 

* Which is the most learned of the two scholars?' 

and of the comparative when more than two things are 
compared — 

* The town consists of three distinct quarters, of which the western 
one is by far the larger.' 

To object to speaking of the division of a town into three quarters 
would be hypercjitical : when used of a town, 'quarter' means 'a part,' 
not necessarily 'a fourth part.' In like manner we may speak of 'a 
weekly journal, ' though originally a journal must have been a publica- 
tion issued every jouj^jycjjteg? 

2. Confusion of the comparative and superlative forms 
of expression — 

'Of all other nations England is the greatest.' 
Unless we have already specified one nation as the greatest and are 
making a comparison between all the remaining nations, this sentence 
is faulty. To say 'America is the greatest nation, and of all other 
nations England is the greatest' is correct. But if this is not our mean- 
ing, we must say either (1) 'England is the greatest of all nations,' or 
(2) 'England is greater than all other nations.' To blend the two 
expressions produces an illogical result, for England is not one of the 
other nations and therefore cannot be the greatest of the other nations. 
'AU_othejc.riationsJ signifies all the nations except, England. 
Milton, imitating a Greek construction, speaks of — 

'Adam the goodliest man of men since born 
'His sons; the fairest of her daughters Eve.' 

But how could Adam be one { <?/mea_since born,' or Eve one <?/hei 
own daughters? 

16 — 2 



244 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

An analogous mistake is illustrated in this sentence: 

'Tennyson was greater than all the poets of his age.' 'All the 

poets ' includes_Xejonj£Son. He could not be greater than himself. Say 

therpfprft 'aJT tltlg fltW pnqts. ' 

3. Pleonasm or excess of expression. Double com- 
paratives and superlatives were common in Shakespeare's 
time: 'more better/ 'most unkindest/ 'most straitest.' 
We avoid such obvious redundancies of form now-a-days, 
but sometimes employ expressions which really are pleo- 
nastic: 'more perfect/ 'most universal/ 

* He advised me to choose the smallest of the two, and which cer- 
tainly appears to be the most preferable.' Note here (1) 'smallest and 
most^ preferable of two' 5^(2) 'preferable' is already comparative in 
meaning; 'most preferable' is therefore pleonastic; (3) and is redundant. 
Say, ■ Of the two he advised me to choose the smaller, which certainly 
appears to be preferable. ' 

Observe however that although 'most preferable/ or even 'more 
preferable,' is pleonastic in this context, since only two things are com- 
pared, a case might occur in which the use of 'more preferable* and 
'most preferable' would tie legitimate. Suppose that four things, 
A, B, C, and D, are set before us, and a choice is allowed. Then, if we 
like B better than A, C better than B, and D better than C, we may 
say that in our opinion B is preferable to A, but C is more preferable, 
and D the most preferable of all. 

252. Should we say, 'The two first' or 'The first two'? 

Strictly speaking there can be only one first, but 'first' and 'last' 
are often used to signify 'in front* and 'towards the end' respectively: 
so we say ' the first remarks I have to make,' 'the first days of the year,' 
' the last lines of the play.' Now if we talk of ' the first ' or ' the last days 
of the year,' we may talk of 'the two first' or 'the two last days of the 
year.' 'The first two' is free from this objection, but it is open to 
another. It suggests a 'second two,' whereas there may be only three 
in the entire series. 

253. The uses of the so-called Definite and Inde- 
finite Articles are given on p. 109. 

Some care is necessary in the use of the Articles to 
avoid ambiguity in those cases in which ambiguity is 
possible. 'A black and a white horse ' means two 
horses, one black, the other white; 'a black and white 



SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES. 245 

horse ' means one piebald horse. ' The secretary and the 
treasurer ' means two officials; ' the secretary and treasurer ' 
means one man who holds both offices. But when no 
misunderstanding is possible, the article is frequently 
repeated for the purpose of emphasis : 'A dark and a dis- 
tant unknown/ 'This machine is the cheapest and the best.' 

The following are clearly wrong : 

'I saw the secretary and treasurer, and they examined my accounts.' 

1 He could not distinguish between the red and green signal.' 

4 A statesman and politician are two very different persons.' 

When there is no chance of ambiguity, because the 
adjectives cannot be taken as descriptive of a single thing, 
English idiom allows us either to repeat the article with the 
noun in the singular, or to use it only once with the noun 
in the plural. So we may say 'The Old and the New 
Testament/ or 'The Old and New Testaments;' 'the 
singular and the plural number/ or 'the singular and 
plural numbers;' 'the primary and the secondary mean- 
ing/ or 'the primary and secondary meanings.' But 'the 
black and white horses' might signify either the piebald 
horses, or those horses which are all black and those which 
are all white. When the latter meaning is intended, there 
are two forms of expression free from all risk of misinter- 
pretation, namely, ' the black and the white horses/ or ' the 
black horses and the white ones.' 

Correct: — -'It is sometimes said that the Nile is longer than all the 
rivers of the eastern and of the western hemispheres. During the past 
week it has overflown its right and left banks.' 

The following points require consideration: (j) As the Nile is one 
of the rivers of the eastern hemisphere, can it be longer than ' all the 
rivers of the eastern hemisphere?' (2) 'The eastern and the western 
hemispheres,' — 'the eastern and the western hemisphere/ — 'the eastern 
and western hemispheres:' which of these forms may we use? why? 
Apply the same principle to 'right and left banks.' (3) From what verb 
does overflown come? 

254. Government. The adjectives like and near 
govern an objective case: 'I met a man like himj 'The 



246 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

boy near me made a disturbance.' Like is used also as an 
adverb ; * like as a father pitieth his children/ meaning ' in 
like manner as.' But it should never be used as a con- 
junction, followed by a nominative case and a finite verb. 
Such solecisms 1 as * like you said/ Mike I told you,' though 
in common use, are peculiarly grating and offensive. 

* These sort of men are sure not to speak true like we do.' 
Here we have (i) 'these sort,' already commented on: (7) 'speak 
true' instead of 'truly' (or 'the truth') : 'true* can be defended however 
on the ground that the adjective is used as an adverb, p. 183. (3) 'like' 
used as a conjunction instead of 'as.' Like would require us after it, 
but we cannot make us the subject of do, therefore like must be 
discarded, unless we say 'like as we do,' employing like as an adverb. 
But such an expression is out of date. 

255. Order. A single adjective used attributively 
generally stands before the noun, but in poetry sometimes 
comes after it, e.g. ' tempests fierce/ i shadows dark,' and in 
certain phrases it always occupies this position owing to 
Norman French influence : e.g. i knight errant/ c heir 
apparent,' ' malice prepense/ 'sign manual/ When several 
adjectives are attached to one noun they are sometimes 
placed after it for emphasis: 'We reached the town, dull, 
dismal, and deserted/ 

II. Pronouns. 

256. Concord. In so far as Pronouns possess in- 
flexions, they may be said to agree with the Nouns for which 
they stand in Gender, Number, and Person: their Case is 
regulated by their relation to their own clause. * Thus we 
say 'Your sister borrowed my dictionary yesterday: I met 
her this morning, and she gave it back to me:' ' Let us 
divide the books : you take these and I will keep those. 7 

1 By a solecism is signified a violation of syntax or of idiom. The 
people of the Athenian colony of Soli in Asia Minor spoke Greek with 
many blunders. Hence an error in grammar or pronunciation was 
called coXotKicr/x6s, from which we borrowed the word solecism. 



SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS. 247 

The anticipatory 7? is used however of masculine and 
of feminine nouns, and of nouns both singular and plural : 
'It is the prince and princess.' You, the pronoun of ordinary 
address, though applied to single individuals, is followed by 
a verb in the plural : * You are old, father William/ 

257. Great care is needed in the employment of pro- 
nouns : the promiscuous use of them is frequently a source 
of obscurity 1 . The historian Clarendon is a notorious trans- 
gressor against clearness in the use of the pronouns. In 
the following extract from Goldsmith's History of Greece, 
the numbers 1, 2, 3, inserted after the pronouns of the 
Third Person, refer respectively to Philip, Aristotle, and 
Alexander : 

'He [1] wrote to that distinguished philosopher... begging of him [2] 
to undertake his [3] education, and to bestow upon him [3] those useful 
lessons which his [1] numerous avocations would not allow him [1] to 
bestow.' 

In Indirect Narrative the dangers of ambiguity from this 
cause are naturally great. Thus — 

1 A father who brought his boy to the police court complained that 
he got up and ran away before he was out of bed.' 

* He told his friend that, if he did not feel better in half-an-hour, he 
thought that he had better go home.' 

258. Construction of the Relative Pronoun. 

How far is it correct to say that there is agreement of the 
relative with its antecedent in gender in English? Who is 
used only of persons, which (in modern English) of other 
animals and inanimate things. That is used in reference to 
antecedents of all kinds. The concord of the relative with 
the antecedent in number and person can be seen only in 
the inflexion of the verb which agrees with the relative. 
Thus, in the following sentences — 

1 See Angus' Handbook of the English Tongue, p. 289, and 
Salmon's School Composition, pp. 181 — 3. 



248 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

1 I, who am here, see this,' 

* Thou, who art here, seest this/ 

* He, who is here, sees this,' 

i We, you, they, who are here, see this/ 

the change in the person or number of the relative who 
is seen in the change in the verb which agrees with it. Am, 
art, is, are not in agreement with /, thou, he; they are in agree- 
ment with who. I, thou, he, are nominatives to see, seest, sees, 
respectively: who is the nominative to am, art, is, and the 
person of who is determined according as it refers to /, 
thou, he. 

The following sentence is wrong. Probably most students would 
correct it, but only a few would give the right reason. 

* Thou art he who hast commanded us.' Hast should be has. Why? 
Not, as five people out of six would say, " Because it must agree with 
its subject he," for he is not its subject; but because it must agree with 
its subject who, and who is here of the 3rd person, since it refers to an 
antecedent he, which is the pronoun of the 3rd person. 

Ought we to say 'It is I, your master, who command you/ or 'It is 
I, your master, who commands you'? 

Either construction admits of defence. In the former case who 
refers to / as its antecedent ; in the latter to master, the noun in appo- 
sition with I. 

The following examples are wrong because the relative does not 
agree with its antecedent in number: the mistake is due to attraction 
of one. 

'It is one of the most valuable books that has appeared in any 
language.' 

Has should be have, because its subject that refers to a plural ante- 
cedent, books. 

'Johnson's Lives of the Poets are now published in six octavo 
volumes, forming one of the most elegant editions that was ever offered 
to the public.' 

Here (1) are should be is: (2) was should be plural, as that, its 
nominative, refers to a plural antecedent, editions ; (3) was should be 
have been, as the statement covers all editions up to the time of writing 
the notice. 

The case of the relative is determined by its con- 
struction in its own clause. Thus in the sentences 
'This is the man who lost his money/ 'This is the man 



SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS. 249 

whose money was lost/ 'This is the man whom they robbed/ 
the antecedent ma7i is in the nominative case, but the case 
of the relative varies according to the requirements of the 
clause in which it occurs. 

Errors in the case of the relative are seen in the following sen- 
tences : — 

'He picked up the man who he had knocked down/ Who should 
be whom, object of knocked down. 

' 1 offer a prize of six pairs of gloves to whomsoever will tell me 
what thought is passing through my mind.' Whomsoever cannot stand 
as subject of will tell. The error arises from the suppression of the 
antecedent, which would be in the objective case, governed by to. The 
full expression is 'to him whosoever will tell.' Whosoever is wrongly 
attracted to agree in case with the antecedent, which is omitted. 

259. Government. Errors of case sometimes occur 
in the use of the personal and relative pronouns. Such 
expressions as the following are often to be heard : ' Ask him 
to let you and I go/ 'Between you and / it stands in this 
way/ 'You are taller than me? 'Whom do men say that I 
am?' Two common forms of faulty construction of the 
interrogative pronoun are commented on in the following 
paragraphs. 

1 Who did you ask to come ? ' 

What are we to say about the grammar of this sentence ? Clearly 
the who is indefensible on formal grounds, as we see by throwing the 
sentence into the shape of an assertion, 'You asked him (not he) to 
come.' And in deliberate or dignified speech or writing, whom is the 
word which we should employ. But in ordinary conversation who is 
often used in sentences of this sort by people who are quite aware that 
whom is grammatically the correct form. Expressions of this type have 
indeed been defended on the assumption that there is an ellipsis of the 
words is it that after Who : — ' Who is it that you did ask to come ? ' in 
which expanded sentence the relative pronoun that is the object required. 
But this ingenious assumption rests on no valid foundation, and the 
slovenly constructions in question must be avoided by those who wish 
to speak correct English. 

1 Who do you believe he is ? ' 

This sentence may be defended on the ground that do you believe is 
parenthetical, and not the principal clause, though the natural order 



25o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

would in that case be * Who is he, (do you believe ?) 'just as we might 
say ' Who is he, do you think ? ' But if believe is the principal verb, 
then the pronoun he must be thrown into the objective case, the verb is 
into the infinitive mood, and who must conform in case to the case of 
the pronoun before the verb to be. Thus we may say (i) 'Whom do 
you believe him to be ? ' which corresponds with the Latin accusative 
and infinitive, or we may say (2) 'Who is he, do you believe?' 

So, ' Whom did you suppose was going for it ? ' may be written 
(1) 'Wlio (did you suppose) was going? ' or (2) • Whom did you suppose 
to be going?' but as the sentence stands there is a confusion of these 
two constructions. 

Questions. 

1. Distinguish between the meaning of ' He had few followers,' 
and 'He had a few followers'; 'I got little credit for it,' and 'I got 
a little credit for it'; 'She has a black and white pony,' and 'She has 
a black and a white pony. * 

2. Correct and give reasons for your corrections: 
'He pays no regard to those kind of things.' 

'He is good-looking and good-mannered, but one of those impulsive 

men that says just what he thinks.' 

'The son walks exactly like the father did.' 

'I had more rather he be neither a soldier or lawyer.' 

'Neither of these persons consider themselves competent.' 

* The master told every boy to do their work and said he would 

punish whoever he saw idle.' 

3. Write short notes explaining the use of the words in italics: 

(1) I could a tale unfold whose lightest word... 

(2) As who should say... 

(3) Smite me him quickly. 

[These sentences contain no grammatical error. 

(1) Whose was originally of all genders and served as the posses- 
sive case of both who and its neuter what. Its use as a neuter possessive 
is now confined to the diction of poetry : this is rather a drawback, as of 
which is a more cumbrous expression. 

(2) Who is here an indefinite pronoun meaning 'any one,' 'some 
one,' not the relative who with antecedent one suppressed. The neuter 
what survives as an indefinite pronoun in the expression * I can tell you 
what,'' that is, 'I can tell you something.' 'As who should say' is 
archaic, but Dickens frequently employs it, e.g. in Our Mutual Friend. 

(3) The ?ne is the Indirect object, and the construction cor- 
responds with the Latin Dativus Commodi: see p. 238. Me signifies 'for 
me.'] 



SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS. 251 

4. What is to be noticed in this passage from Coriolanus} 

' Him I accuse 
The city ports by this hath entered.' 

[Complete the construction by supplying the suppressed antecedent. 
The sentence then reads l He whom I accuse... hath entered.' Now we 
may omit the antecedent and say * Whom I accuse,' or omit the relative 
and say ' He I accuse ; ' but Shakespeare omits the relative and allows 
the antecedent to be attracted to the objective case of the relative.] 

5. State the laws which determine the use of the words 'who' and 
'that' in a relative sentence. Give a sentence showing how the sense 
is affected according as the one or the other of these two words is used. 

[Respecting the first part of the question, see p. 128. If who and 
which were used purely as co-ordinating relatives, and that as the restric- 
tive or limiting relative, ambiguity would sometimes be avoided. Thus 
1 His friends who lived in London missed him greatly,' in the mouth of 
the ordinary speaker, may signify either (1) His friends missed him 
greatly and his friends lived in London, or (2) Those particular friends 
living in London missed him though his friends in other towns may not 
have done so. In this latter sense the use of the restrictive that instead 
of who is recommended, but the distinction is not carried out in modern 
practice. Similarly, *I will give you my books which are at my 
lodgings' may signify either 'all my books, and my books are at my 
lodgings,' or 'those particular books at my lodgings out of my entire 
stock.' If that were reserved for the latter meaning, the expression 
would be free from risk of a wrong interpretation.] 

6. Explain the term Attribute, and give instances of five different 
ways of enlarging or qualifying the subject of a sentence. 

[An attribute is a quality attributed to a thing : when we say ' The 
horse is white,' we explicitly assert the presence of the attribute or 
quality whiteness. When we speak of 'the white horse,' we implicitly 
affirm the presence of the attribute. See p. 104. As the adjective 
marks the presence of the attribute or quality in a thing, the adjective 
attached to a noun is sometimes called the attribute of the noun, but 
this misuse of terms should be avoided. 

For the enlargement of the subject, see p. 213.] 

7. State the rule for the agreement of the relative with its antece- 
dent. When may the relative be omitted? Give an example. 

Correct :- — ' Let him and I settle who we will invite.' 

8. When the words either^ such, one, as, are used as pronouns, to 
what classes do they severally belong? 

Write down one example of the pronominal use of a s. 
Parse the italicised words in : — ' Go, get you to your house ; ' ' He did 
it himself; ' ' Such a lovely day ! ' 



2 S 2 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

9. Correct the following sentences. Each sentence contains more 
than one error ; some contain several. 

' Somebody called, I could not firstly tell whom, but, after, I found 
it was her.' 

* Three courses suggest themselves to me 5 but neither of these, or 
indeed any other seem acceptable to the President, whom people think 
is one of the most incompetent men that has ever occupied the Chair.' 

1 My niece, whom it was supposed had been murdered, is a girl of 
ten years old.' 

* Do you remember my cousin whom we thought had settled in 
Australia ? There is some talk of him returning/ 

10. Is any correction required in the following sentence? — 'I, he, 
and you can go.' 

[In this sentence there is nothing formally wrong, but usage enjoins a 
different arrangement of the pronouns. From motives of politeness the 
first place is given to the person addressed : from feelings of modesty the 
speaker mentions himself last. Hence we should say * You, he, and I 
can go.' When a speaker joins others with himself and uses the plural 
number, considerations of courtesy and modesty are no longer applicable, 
and the pronouns occupy their natural positions, we standing first, you 
second, and they third : ' We, you and they can go.'] 

1.1. Correct the following sentences, and give a reason for every 
change : 

4 For ever in this humble cell 
Let thee and I, my fair one, dwell.' 

' Who did you see at the regatta ? ' 

* The latter of the three solutions is more preferable.' 

* If this be him we mean, let him beware.' 

' 1 saw the pickpocket and policeman on opposite sides of the 
street.' 

1 These kind of birds are found in Africa.' 

' It is unfair to argue like you do.' 

'This principle is of all others the most important.' 

'The logical and historical analysis of a language often coincides.' 

' Who can it be for ? ' 

'Government sells arms to whomsoever wishes to buy.' 

'They show marks who they come from.' 

' I am one of those who cannot describe what I do not see.' 

' It was the most amiable, although the least dignified, of all the 
party squabbles by which it had been preceded.' 



»5i 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Syntax of Verbs. 

260. Concord. The Verb agrees with its Sub- 
ject in Number and Person. 

Thus we say 'He is,' 'They are,' 'Men work/ not ' He 
are/ ' They is,' ' Men works.' Observe, however, that — 

i. Collective nouns in the singular may be followed by 
a verb in the singular or plural, according as we are thinking 
of the aggregate, or of the individuals composing it. We 
may say ' The Committee were divided in opinion/ or ' The 
Committee was unanimous.' 

2. Several nouns which are plural in form are usually 
construed as singular, since their meaning is singular or 
collective : thus, * The news is true.' Other examples are 
given on p. 89, (3). 

The same explanation applies to our employment of a singular verb 
with a plural noun which forms the title of a book : the book is singular 
though the title is plural. We say therefore 'Johnson's Lives of the 
Poets has been edited afresh ' ; ' Macaulay's Biographies is a reprint from 
the Encyclopaedia Britannica. ' 

Two or more nouns in the singular joined by and require 
a verb in the plural : * He and I were astonished.' But if 



254 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

the nouns are names of the same thing, the verb is singular : 
so we say 'The secretary and treasurer has absconded,' when 
one man holds the two offices. And on similar grounds, 
when the different nouns together express one idea, the 
verb is frequently in the singular : * Two and two is four ' : 
1 Early to bed and early to rise 
i Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.' 

But if we employ 'with' or 'as well as' in the place 
of ' and,' the verb is not plural, unless indeed it would be 
plural without the addition of these words and the noun 
which follows them. Thus, ' The minister, with his private 
secretaries, was present ' ; as with is a preposition, it is 
impossible that secretaries should be a nominative to the 
verb, for secretaries is in the objective case governed by 
with. Again, ' Veracity, as well as justice, is to be our 
rule/ not are, for the elliptical clause 'as well as justice' 
is introduced as a parenthesis. 

Nouns in the singular joined by or or nor require a verb 
in the singular : the force of these conjunctions is to present 
the subjects as alternatives, not jointly. 

Hence the following are wrong : 

' Nor want nor cold his course delay.' 

'Death or banishment were the alternatives placed before him.' 

If or or nor connects two Pronouns of different 
persons, it is doubtful what the construction of the verb 
should be. Perhaps the safest rule would be to make the 
verb agree with the pronoun which immediately precedes 
it, but even this arrangement produces very harsh effects. 
Should we say — 

' Either he or I are going,' 
c Either he or I am going/ 
4 Either he or I is going ' ? 

The usage of different people may vary. A good many 
would say are, although as or is an alternative conjunction 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 255 

and indicates that the subjects are to be taken separately, 
the verb must at any rate be singular. If we say am, the 
verb agrees with the subject /but not with the subject. A*: 
if we say is, it agrees with he but not with I In practice 
it is easy, and also desirable, to avoid this difficulty by 
modifying the sentence thus : * Either he is going or I am.' 
Grammatical blunders often arise by mistaking for the 
subject a dependent noun of a different number from that 
of the subject, owing to its position immediately before the 
verb. The following are illustrations of this error : 

'To Marat, and Danton, and Robespierre, are due the honour of 
having made it universal.' The subject of the verb is honour ', and the 
verb should be singular. 

' His knowledge of French and English literature were far beyond 
the common.' The writer is misled by the words * French and English 
literature ' which come next the verb, and forgets that the noun * know- 
ledge ' in the singular is subject of the verb. 

When words take irregular constructions owing to the 
influence of other words, they are said to be attracted. 

261. Government. The Direct Object and the In- 
direct Object are dealt with on p. 100, the Cognate Object on 
p. 137, the Retai?ied Object in the Passive construction with 
verbs which take a Direct and an Indirect Object on pp. 
145, 238. Note that, when both Objects follow the verb, 
the Indirect Object precedes the Direct Object For if this 
order is reversed, a preposition is required before the In- 
direct Object, and the noun or pronoun is then the object 
of the preposition and no longer the Indirect Object of 
the verb. So, 'Get me a cab' becomes 'Get a cab for me ' : 
1 1 gave him a book ' becomes ' I gave a book to him.' 

262. Moods. The uses of the Subjunctive are set 
out on p. 147. The constructions of the different parts of 
the Verb Infinite, Noun and Adjective, are given on pp. 
149 — 154. The student is advised to read these passages 



2 5 6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

again and then to consider carefully Questions 6 to 20 at 
the end of this Chapter. 

263. Future Tense. 

In the Chapter on Auxiliary Verbs, it was pointed out 
that Shall and Willy used as auxiliaries, express (1) futurity, 
(2) determination. A more detailed statement of the 
different uses of Shall and Will is given in a con- 
venient form in the following table 1 : 



To express 


1 st pers. 


2nd & 3rd 
pers. 


Examples. 


i. Futurity 


shall 


will 


( I shall come to-morrow. 
< You will get back late. 
(He will arrive first. 


1. Question 


shall 


shall, will 


( Shall I pass? 
\ Shall you pass? 
( Will he pass? 


3. Determina- 
tion 


will 


will 


( I will have my own way. 

< You will have your own way. 

( He will have his own way. 


4. Promise 


will 


shall 


( I will pay you to-morrow. 
< You shall be paid to-morrow. 
( He shall be paid to-morrow. 


5. Compulsion 


shall 


shall 


( He says I shall do it. 
< Thou shall not steal. 
( He shall surely die. 



1 Adapted from Sir E. B. Head's Shall and Will, p. 119. 

The student should learn the first column of this table containing the 
list of different notions under which our uses of shall and will are 
classified. Then, if he grasps the meaning of the terms employed, he 
can easily make his own examples and write down either shall or will as 
appropriate to the different persons, by the exercise of his intelligence. 
This will be a much better course for him than burdening his mind with 
a table of details mechanically got by heart. 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 



*$fi 



264. In like manner we can make a table of the uses 
of Should and Would. 



To express 


1 st pers. 


2nd & 3rd 

pers. 


Examples. 


i. Contingent 
Futurity 

3. Hypothesis 

3. Determina- 
tion 


should 
should 
would 


would 
should 
would 


( I should be surprised, if it rains. 

< You would be surprised, if it rains. 
( He would be surprised, if it rains. 

( If I should see him, I will tell him. 

< If you should see him, tell him. 
( If he should see you, tell him. 

( I would go, if I could. 

< You would go, if you could. 
( He would go, if he could. 



265. Sequence of Tenses in a Subordinate 
Clause. 

What is the rule for the sequence of tenses, when a 
principal sentence is followed by a subordinate one? 

In general terms we may say that in English, as in 
Latin, Primary Tenses follow Primary, and Historic Tenses 
follow Historic. More explicitly — 

Principal Clause Subordinate Clause :v 

Present ) r ,. , , I Present or Future Indicative, or 

Future j are foUowed b ? \ Present Subjunctive. 

Past is followed by Past. 



Examples : 



Primary followed by Primary, 
-He says that he is working hard. 
He says that he will work hard. 
He works hard so that he may pass. 
He has worked hard so that he may pass. 
He will tell you that he is working hard. 
He will tell you that he will work hard. 
He will work hard so that he may pass. 

Past followed by Past. 
He said that he would come. 
He hoped that he might pass. 



r 



W. E. G. 



17 



258 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

He could do it if he liked. 

He had said that he would do it. 

If however the dependent clause affirms a proposition which is true 
for all time, the present tense is generally used, though the principal 
clause contain a past tense : so, * Shakespeare affirmed that cowards die 
many times,' * Carlyle asked if virtue is a gas.' But the past also would 
be quite admissible. 

Is there any inaccuracy in saying 'I intended to have 
written'? 

Verbs such as hope, expect ', desire, intend, command, the import of 
which is future, require the present infinitive of the dependent verb, if it 
denotes an action simply subsequent in time to the time of the action of 
the principal verb. Clearly I cannot hope or intend now to have done 
something already, for hope or intend implies futurity. But if we wish 
to express the completeness at a future date of the action denoted by the 
dependent verb, the perfect infinitive is appropriate. Though I cannot 
say • I hope to have written,' when I mean merely that I hope to write, 
I can say ' I hope this morning to have written ten pages by to-night,' 
where the to have written does not imply that the writing is prior to the 
hoping, which would be absurd, but implies that it will have been com- 
pleted at a certain future time. In the same way we may legitimately say 
'I intended yesterday to have written to you before you called to-day.' 

266. Reported Speech. In reproducing the precise 
words used by a speaker we quote his speech directly. But 
if we introduce his remarks with * He said that/ or an 
equivalent expression, it is necessary to alter the pronouns 
and tenses, and the speech is then reported indirectly, or 
in ' oblique narrative.' This distinction was denoted in 
Latin by the terms Oratio Recta and Oratio Obliqua. As 
an illustration, take the following passage : 

" I wish you would play up," said the captain : " why 
are you all so slack? Do keep the ball low. They will 
get another goal directly, if you don't look out." 

Here we have the speaker's own words given in direct 
narrative. They may be indirectly reported in three ways : 

(i) by the speaker himself; 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 



259 



(2) by one of the team ; 

(3) by an outsider. 



Captain's original speech. 


Captain reports himself. 


I wish you would play up. Why 
are you all so slack ? Do keep 
the ball low. They will get 
another goal directly, if you dorit 
look out. 


(I said) / wished they would 
play up. Why were they all so 
slack ? They must keep the ball 
low. The other fellows would 
get another goal directly, if they 
didnU look out. 


One of the team reports Captain. 


Outsider reports Captain. 


(He said) He wished we would 
play up. Why were we all so 
slack? We were to keep the 
ball low. They would get another 
goal directly, if we didn't look 
out. 


(He said) He wished they would 
play up. Why were they all so 
slack ? They must keep the ball 
low. The other fellows would get 
another goal directly, if they 
didnH look out. 



After a present tense of the principal verb, (He says), the 
tenses of the reported speech will be different from those 
given above. The student can make the necessary altera- 
tions for himself, observing, as he does so, the working of 
the law of the Sequence of Tenses. When no directions 
are given to the contrary, a passage for conversion to in- 
direct narrative is supposed to be introduced by the past 
tense, (He said), and the reporter is supposed not to form one 
of the persons addressed 

Copious examples for practice in the conversion from 
the direct to the indirect form, and from the indirect to the 
direct form of narrative, are furnished by the daily news- 
papers in their parliamentary reports. 

As a further exercise let us write in the third person the 
following speech of King Richard, taking care to make the 
meaning plain, and commencing with King Richard said 
that : — 

1 1 wish I may forget my brother John's injuries as soon 

as he will forget my pardon of them/ 

17 — 2 



260 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

This becomes — 'He wished he might forget his brother 
John's injuries as soon as John would forget the King's 
pardon of them/ 

To avoid obscurity of expression some such substitution for he and 
his as we have introduced in the latter part of the passage is necessary. 
To have recourse to parentheses containing the names is a clumsy ex- 
pedient : e.g % * as soon as he (John) would forget his (Richard's) pardon 
of them. , 

Questions. 
i. What rules about Concord are still observed in English? 
[Concord occurs in the following instances : 
(i) The verb and its subject in number and person. 

(2) The adjectives this and that in number. 

(3) The noun in apposition in case. 

(4) The pronouns in gender, number, and person.] 

2. Give rules respecting the concord of verbs with their subjects, 
when subjects differing in number, or person, or both, are connected by 
a conjunctive or alternative conjunction. 

3. Comment on the following constructions from Milton and 
Shakespeare : 

* Bitter complaint and sad occasion dear 

* Compels me to disturb your season due.' 
'No ceremony that to great ones 'longs, 

'Not the King's crown, nor the deputed sword, 
'The marshal's truncheon, nor the judge's robe 
i Become them with one half so good a grace 
'As mercy does.' 

4. Correct the following sentences : — 
'This and that man was born there.' 

' Honour as well as profit are to be gained by this.' 

' Homer as well as Virgil were studied by him. ' 

4 But the temper as well as knowledge of a modern historian require 
a more sober and accurate language.' 

' The happiness or misery of men's lives depend very much on his 
early training/ 

4 Neither Thomas nor John were there.' 

' I, whom nor avarice nor pleasure move.' 

* Neither you or me are invited.' 

1 The diligent study of classics and mathematics prepare the mind for 
any pursuit in which it may engage.' 

' Nothing but misfortunes have been the result.' 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 261 

'Bacon's Essays are the most important of these two works,' 
'Three spoonsfull of water to one of wine is not near sufficient.' 
[Notice here, (1) the compound noun in the plural is spoonfuls : in 
spoons full viz have two words, spoons, a noun, and full, an adjective 
limiting the noun. We may say either ■ three spoonfuls ' or ' three 
spoons full.' Here the former is more suitable, as it is a quantity of 
liquid that is spoken of, not a number of spoons. (2) The singular is 
may be defended, as the subject, though plural in form, represents a 
whole. Similarly we say 'Twice two is four,' 'Twenty years is a long 
time,' 'Two-thirds has been lost.' (3) Near? Can this be justified?] 

5. Explain the term Indirect Object. Write two short sentences in 
illustration of its use after verbs, and one of its use after an adjective. 

Give instances, one of each kind, of words (1) governed by, (2) 
agreeing with, (3) qualifying, other words. 

[Like, unlike, near, will furnish the construction of the Indirect 
Object required after adjectives.] 

6. Explain with full examples the uses of the different moods of the 
verb. 

Notice especially the cases when ^*can be followed by the indicative, 
and when it must have a subjunctive. 

[For an answer to the former part of the question see p. 145. The 
latter part is dealt with below, Q. 8.] 

7. Give a definition of the Subjunctive Mood, distinguishing it 
from the Indicative. 

State the Mood of the word may in— 

(a) You may go. 

(b) I give that you may give. 

(c) May good digestion wait on appetite. 
Give reasons for your answer in each case. 

[In (a) may has its own meaning as a notional verb : ' You may go ' 
signifies ' You are at liberty to go.' In (b) it has parted with its own 
meaning and become a mere auxiliary of give, marking the subjunctive 
mood. The same is true of its use in {c) where, as an auxiliary of wait, 
it serves to express a wish.] 

8. What is the general rule for the use of the indicative or the 
subjunctive mood in dependent sentences? Illustrate this rule by an 
example. 

[If the condition expressed by the verb in the dependent sentence is 
assumed as a fact, but without our wishing to imply that we think it 
likely or unlikely to be fulfilled, the indicative should be used : but if 
the condition is stated as something conceived by the speaker either as 
unlikely or as actually impossible, the subjunctive should be used. As 
we remarked before however (p. 147), the indicative has very largely 



262 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

taken the place of the subjunctive where the use of the latter would 
be more appropriate. 

This distinction may be illustrated thus : 

'If he is in the garden, I will find him,' (He may be or he may 
not for anything that I know; but assuming that he is, I will find him.) 

'If he be in the garden, I will find him,' (I am doubtful: it is 
unlikely that he is.) 

'If he were in the garden, I would find him,' (I deny that he is.) 
Hence the subjunctive is the right mood in which to express a wish, 'I 
wish he were less idle,' which he is not; and a purpose, 'Mind that you 
be ready by one o'clock/ for as the event is future, it must be regarded 
only as conjectured, not realised.] 

9. Give examples of the different ways in which is can be altered 
into the subjunctive mood in English, Give a classification of the 
various uses of the subjunctive mood. 

[Take the sentence ' He is idle.' We may convert this from indicative 
to subjunctive in these ways: (1) Though he be idle, he will pass his 
examination : (2) Though he may be idle, he will pass: (3) Though he 
should be idle, he would pass : (4) Though he were idle, he would pass. 

The answer to the latter part of the question is given on p. 147.] 

10. Write out the past tense of the subjunctive mood of the verb 
to be, and give an example of the use of the 3rd person singular of this 
tense after the conjunctions if, that, though, respectively. 

[For the conjugation see p. 146. 

* If he were here, you would not say so, ' 
' I wish that he were here.' 

' Though he were here, I should say just the same.'] 

11. How is future time indicated in the subjunctive mood? 

[As the subjunctive has no future tenses, the present tense is used. 

* We shall be sailing up the Channel to-morrow) , f . _ . 

* We shall have passed Dover to-morrow V lf * he win ^ ,f 
' We shall reach the Nore to-morrow ) tavouraDle - J 

12. Correct: — 'If he don't know, I am sure I don't.' 
[Consider what don't is a contraction of. Don't is 'do" not,' so the 

sentence is ' If he do not know, I am sure I do not.' On a suitable 
occasion * If he do not ' is correct English, the verb being in the sub- 
junctive mood. But this is not a suitable occasion on which to employ 
the subjunctive. ' If ' is not used in this sentence with its ordinary con- 
ditional sense. On the contrary it signifies rather ' assuming as a fact.' 
Hence the indicative should be used both in the antecedent and in the 
consequent clause, and we ought to say ' If he doesn't know, I am sure 
I don't,' our meaning being this, — ' Seeing that he is certainly ignorant, 
I am certainly ignorant too.'] 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 263 

13. What parts of the Verb may be used as (a) nouns, (b) adjectives? 
Apply your answer to the verb speak, by making short sentences in 
which this verb is used in the different ways you have mentioned. 

14. What is the subject in the following: 7 perform is better than 
to promise! Write this with a verbal noun for subject. 

Give not more than three examples of noun sentences as objects to / 
remember, and show how to express the same ideas with verbal nouns 
instead of verbs, using as far as possible the same words. 

Comment on any peculiarity of grammar in — * He cannot choose but 
hear. ' 

[What part of speech is but ? Think what word would be substituted 
for it. What mood is hear ? What might we expect to find with it ?] 

15. Parse the infinitives in the following sentences : — 

' To tell the truth I think you are to blame for going to sleep to kill 
time.' 

'To think that any one, who can help it, should be content to live 
with nothing to do ! ' 

[Consider carefully the uses of the gerundial infinitive specified on 
p. 1 50 and the examples in illustration of them.] 

16. Give the derivation and definition of the term Participle. 
Shew how your answer applies to the participles in the following 

sentence : — 

1 In playing tennis he was always forgetting that a ball returned by 
his opponent, if it touched the top of the net dividing the courts, was 
likely to twist.' 

['Participle,' from the Latin pars, 'part,' capjo, 'take'; Participles 
are so called because they participate in the character of both adjective 
and verb. Like adjectives they limit the application of nouns ; like verbs 
(when formed from transitive verbs) they are followed by an object.] 

17. Carefully parse the words ending in ing in the following 
sentence — 'Fearing that the load was injuring the horses I felt no more 
pleasure in travelling through that entrancing scenery.' 

[Notice that entrancing^ though originally a participle describing an 
act, has here become an adjective describing a quality. Like an 
adjective, therefore, it precedes the noun which it limits : as a participle, 
its position would naturally be after the noun, as in the phrase ' the 
scenery entrancing our eyes.' As an adjective it can be qualified by very, 
but our English idiom does not allow us to qualify participles by very. 
We can say 'very entrancing scenery,' but not 'the scenery entrancing 
our eyes very.' There are indeed a few past participles which usage 
permits us to qualify by the use of very, — participles of such common 
occurrence that they are treated as adjectives; 'very pleased,' 'very 
tired.' But much is used with past participles regarded as past participles : 



264 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

we say * much hurt/ ' much applauded,' ' much abused/ not ' very hurt,' 
'very applauded,' 'very abused.'] 

1 8. What is a Gerund? and how is it different from the Imperfect 
Participle ? Give examples. 

Write down three sentences, in which the word ' walking ' is used as 
a participle, an adjective, and a verbal noun, respectively. 

19. i. 'Seeing is believing.' 

What different opinions have been held by grammarians as to the 
origin and nature of this idiom ? 

ii. ' I heard of him running away.' 

Is there any error in this sentence? If so, correct it, stating your 
reasons for the change you make. 

[i. These forms in ingh&ve been called nouns, gerunds, and infinitives. 
The Old English termination of the verbal noun was ~ung ; the infinitive 
ended in -an, and its dative case, which served as a gerund, ended in 
-anne. 

ii. This sentence is not necessarily ungrammatical, but it conveys a 
meaning which is different from what was probably intended. As it 
stands, running is a participial adjunct of hint, and the meaning is ' I 
heard of him, when he was running away.' But the speaker's intention 
was doubtless to state that he heard, not of him, but of the running 
away. In that case the sentence ought to be 'I heard of his running 
away,' where running is not a participle but a gerund.] 

20. In how many different ways may the word judging be parsed ? 
Illustrate each of them by a sentence. 

2 1 . Correct the following sentences s 

' I heard of him saying as you were ill.* 

' I soon expect to hear of it being done.' 

[Notice the position of the adverb soon. Which word should it 
qualify? Put it next to that word.] 

'The forgiving injuries is a Christian duty.' 

[Alter in two ways, making forgiving (1) a Verbal Noun, (2) a 
Gerund.] 

' His friends were very alarmed to find that he had weakened instead 
of strengthened his position. ' 

[Can we say 'very alarmed ' ? A finite part of the verb cannot 
follow a preposition : of requires the gerund. Or we can correct the 
sentence without altering strengthened, if we substitute for instead of, 
either and not or rather than.] 

' If I had only ran the last few yards instead of walked, I should 
have caught the train easy enough.' 

' If I had not broke your stick instead of hit you with it, you would 
never have ran home nor begun to tell those kind of lies which nobody 
but foolish men believe.' 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 265 

22. Give a short rule for the proper use of shall and will. Why 
are the phrases: 'I will be under the necessity,' 'We will be com- 
pelled,' incorrect? 

23. Distinguish between the use of would and should, giving 
examples original or quoted. 

Correct : — t If I was to run quick, I would fall.' 

' How will we know whether is the greatest of the two ? * 

' Directly we fight we will be beaten, unless you support us.' 

24. Errors of sequence of tenses occur in the following sentences : 
correct them. 

* He said he won't give me any.' 

' I said that I will try again. ' 

' She told you and me that she will come.' 

'As soon as he has gone away, he wrote and told you and me to 
come directly.' 

'I intended to have bought a moderate- sized microscope, but was 
told that these minute organisms can be seen only under the best instru- 
ments. ' 

' I was going to have written him a letter.' 

1 They all hoped to have succeeded.' 

'Swift, but a few months before, was willing to have hazarded all 
the horrors of a civil war.' 

[In what circumstances would to hazard and to have hazarded be 
respectively appropriate ?] 

1 Each of the three last were expected to have stopped and voted.' 

' I had hoped never to have seen the statues again.' 

25. State what changes in the mode of expression are made when 
a speech is reported in the indirect form. 

Deduce from the following report the words used originally by the 
speaker : — ' He urged them to tell him of a single enterprise in which 
they had succeeded, and, if they could not, to give him some better 
reason than their own word for believing that they were blameless. He 
would inquire into the facts and judge for himself.' 

26. Convert the following speech into Indirect Narrative, intro- 
ducing your report with the words He said that : 

' You cannot conquer America. If I were an American, as I am an 
Englishman, while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never 
would lay down my arms, — never, never, never ! ' 

27. Rewrite the following passage in Indirect Narrative, introducing 
the report with the words He said that : 

' People have not been, I am told, quite as calm as sensible men 
should be. Bear in mind the advice of Lord Stanley. Do not let 



266 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

your newspapers bring you into that frame of mind under which your 
Government, if it desires war, may be driven to engage in it.' 

28. Point out the ambiguities in the following sentence :— ' Ethel 
told Mary that it would not be her fault if she did not succeed. ' 

[This report in oblique narrative may represent four different state- 
ments of Ethel's in the direct form. Give them.] 

29. Correct the following sentences : 

* Snapping at whomsoever laid in its way, the police siezed the dog, 
on account of it not only being dangerous, but also unmuzled according 
to law.' 

[This sentence teems with errors of various kinds. First, there are 
two words misspelt. Secondly, there are grammatical blunders, whom- 
soever, laid, and it. Thirdly, there are mistakes of arrangement, whereby 
nonsense is made. Put the participial phrase ' snapping at whomsoever 
laid in its way ' next to the word of which it is the adjunct : at present 
it appears as if the police were snapping. The order of the words not 
only being must be changed. And was it * according to law ' that the 
dog had its mouth open, or that the police captured it ?] 

* Bicycling down a hill, a stone tripped him up and his leg was 
broke. He laid there insensible some time, and when they had 
awakened him with some spoons full of brandy, he couldn't hardly 
recognise whom his friend was.' 

* I hope to thoroughly master the subject in a week.' 

[The separation of to from the verb, — a solecism called ' the split 
infinitive,' — should be avoided. Alter the position of the adverb in 
more ways than one.] 

'Whom do you think I met to-day? Your two cousins! The 
eldest had on a new and a most fashionable pair of boots, just like you 
saw Henry wearing yesterday, and the other was nearly dressed the 
same.' 

30. A confusion of two constructions is called Anacoluthon, from a 
Greek word which means 'not following along,' 'not in sequence with ' 
something else. Show that the following sentences furnish illustrations 
of this error. 

'They had awoke him, he learned, to be told that the river had 
overflown its banks.' 

[Two constructions are blended here : ' They had awoke him to tell 
him,' and ■ He had awoke (or been awaked) to be told.' 

' He had two sisters, the one a wealthy spinister, the other a married 
sister is the wife of a farmer.' 

4 1 cannot write any more now and believe me, yours sincerely.' 

[To join a verb in the indicative mood to a verb in the imperative 
makes nonsense. Put both coordinate clauses in the indicative, changing 



SYNTAX OF VERBS. 267 

' believe me ' for some other expression, or cancel the former clause and 
substitute one which contains a verb in the imperative mood.] 

* My lawyer is a man whom I know is trustworthy.' 

'When Nelson was ill he complained of "the servants letting me 
lay as if a log, and take no notice." ' 

1 Should any one not receive the goods ordered in ten days, kindly 
write to the advertiser.' 

1 This is the man whom I perceived was in fault.' 

' I think it may assist the reader by placing them before him in 
chronological order.' 

1 Mrs Jones presents her compliments to Miss Robinson and will be 
much obliged if she will prevent her dog from coming into my garden.' 

1 More than one swimming-prize is to be given for boys of thirteen 
years old.' 

31. Criticise the following expressions : — 

(1) ' Our mutual friend.' 

(2) ' A reliable statement.' 

(3) 'A phenomenal success.' 

(4) ' I sha'n't do more than I can help.' 

(5) ' If I am not mistaken.' 

(6) ' Send a written message, not a verbal one. ' 

(7) ' Important events have transpired.' 

[In (1) common should be substituted for mutual y which implies 
reciprocal relationship. If A likes B and B likes A their friendship is 
mutual. In (2) 'trustworthy' might take the place of 'reliable.' Just 
as penetrable means 'what can be penetrated' and eatable 'what can be 
eaten,' so strictly reliable must mean 'what can be relied,' which is 
nonsense. ' What can be relied on ' would be rely-on-able ; as ' what 
can be got a? is colloquially said to be get-at-able. The words laughable \ 
available and indispensable are open to a similar somewhat pedantic 
criticism. (3) Phenomenal is a word misapplied by journalists in the 
sense 'remarkable.' Give the true meaning. (4) Help means ' avoid ' 
in this context. One who wishes to do as little as possible does no 
more than he cannot avoid. (5) Why passive? The expression is 
always used to signify ' If I do not misunderstand, ' not ' If I am not 
misunderstood.' (6) Verbal means 'in words,' so 'a written message' 
is 'a verbal one.' What adjective signifies 'by word of mouth'? 
(7) What does transpire mean? Events do not transpire except in 
journalese.] 

32. Quote four examples of common errors of speech, and show 
wherein the faultiness consists. 

33. Show that the number of rules of concord and government in 
any language depends on the variety and extent of its inflexions. 



268 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

34. Illustrate the different kinds of grammatical concord, and show 
that the following sentences are faulty : % 

(a) * Neither of these men are patriots at heart/ 

(b) ■ This is one of those things that is managed better abroad.' 

(c) ' The number of failures were very great. ' 

(d) i Thou great First Cause, least understood, 

Who all my sense confined. ' 

35. Comment on the construction of the verb in each of the 
following sentences : — 

* Is the news true ? ' 

4 The people are divided.' 

1 Every limb and every feature appears with its appropriate grace.' 

* Justice as well as benevolence is our rule.' 

36. How can you distinguish the objective case from the nominative 
in English ? 

State the case and government (if any) of each of the italicised words 
in the following sentences. 

(a) ' Prize me no prizes, for my prize is death? 

(b) ' She let concealment, like a worm i' the bud, 

Feed on her damask cheek? 

(c) ' For my brethren and companions' sakes.' 

(d) ' That is not for such as you? 

37. Correct the following sentences where necessary: 

* Thou lovest, but never knew love's sad satiety.' 

* Nothing but grave and serious studies delight him.' 

* The ship with all the passengers were lost.' 

* He knows not what spleen, langour, or listlessness are.' 

1 The king with the lords and commons form the legislature.' 
1 The posture of your blows are yet unknown.' 

* There is sometimes more than one auxiliary to a verb. ' 

* He objects to me having the book.' 

* If I were old enough to be married, I am old enough to manage 
my father's house. ' 

[See the note to Q. 12, p. 262.] 

4 And so was also James and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were 
partners with Simon.' 

'The steam-engine as well as the telegraph were at that time 
undiscovered.' 

[Is undiscovered the right word ?] 

4 1 have not wept this forty years.' 

1 It must be confessed that a lampoon or a satire do not carry in 
them robbery and murder. ' 

* He must decide between you and I going to him or him corning to 
us.' 



269 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



Syntax of Adverbs, Conjunctions, and Prepositions. 



267. There are some words which are variously used 
as Prepositions, as Adverbs, and as Conjunctions. The 
following sentences illustrate this threefold use of but, 
before^ since. 



Prepositions. 

I saw nobody but 
him. 

Songs before sun- 
rise. 

Since Easter. 



Adverbs. 
I have but one. 

He went before. 

I have not seen 
him since. 



Conjunctions. 
I saw him but not 

you. 
He went before 

I arrived. 
1 will do so since 

you wish it. 



How are such words to be distinguished ? 

If the word in question governs a noun or pronoun, it 
is a Preposition = Bear in mind the fact that the preposi- 
tion frequently comes after the relative pronoun which it 
governs : * I gave the book that he asked for to the man 
whom I spoke to 9 ) 'This is the place which you told me of 9 
And this relative pronoun is often dropped out altogether : 
the words that, whom, and which, would probably be omitted 
from these sentences in conversation. Nevertheless, for, to 9 
and of are still prepositions, for they govern these pronouns 
understood. 



270 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

But to distinguish Adverbs from Conjunctions is often 
a difficult matter, for there are many adverbs which join 
sentences and therefore do the work of conjunctions. For 
identifying an adverb there is a rule-of-thumb which directs 
us to move the word about and observe whether the gram- 
matical structure of the passage in which it occurs is 
destroyed by the process : if it is not destroyed, we are to 
conclude, according to this rule, that the word is an adverb. 
Thus the sentence 'Meanwhile the mob continued shouting 7 
would retain its grammatical structure unimpaired, if the 
word meanwhile were placed after mob, or after continued, 
or after shouting. But though this freedom of movement 
on the part of adverbs is a feature which deserves notice, 
it is quite useless as a practical test in precisely those 
instances in which the student might find a difficulty in 
deciding whether the word in question is to be called an 
adverb or a conjunction, for in those instances the word 
cannot be moved about, and yet it would frequently be 
rightly described as an adverb. Take the sentences 'I 
know where he lives/ 'I saw him when he called/ 'I as- 
certained how he escaped.* The words where, when, how, 
cannot be shifted to other places in the sentence without 
making nonsense of the whole. Hence a student applying 
this test in his uncertainty would say they were not adverbs. 
Yet they are adverbs : where qualifies lives, when qualifies 
called, how qualifies escaped, just as much as the adverbs 
there, then, and so qualify these verbs when we say ' He lives 
there,' * He called then, 1 i He escaped so* It is true that 
ivhere, when, and how also join the clauses 'I know. ..he 
lives/ 'I saw him. ..he called/ 'I ascertained... he escaped.' 
But though they join clauses, they do not therefore cease 
to be adverbs, any more than the relative pronouns cease 
to be pronouns because they also join clauses. The co- 
ordinate clauses 'I know the m£h...he did it/ are united 
in one complex sentence by who, when we say * I know 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC, 271 

the man who did it ' ; still we do not call who a conjunc- 
tion. * Conjunctive ' or * connective ' pronouns we might 
indeed call them, and the name would be more appropriate 
than 'relative' pronouns; and * conjunctive' or 'connective' 
adverbs is the proper name for words which, while acting as 
adverbs, also join clauses. 

Ask the question therefore, — Does the word about 
which I am in doubt not only join two clauses but also 
qualify some verb or adjective in the clause which it in- 
troduces ? If it does, it is a conjunctive adverb : if it does 
not, it is a conjunction. Thus in the sentences 1 1 will go 
if you wish/ 'I know that he died/ the words ^"and that 
connect two clauses without modifying any word which 
follows them; but in the sentences 'I will go when you 
wish/ 'I know where he died/ when and where connect 
two clauses and also modify the verbs wish and died 
respectively. 

However, the student, who finds this distinction too 
subtle to serve him as a practical criterion, will commit no 
serious error if he describes a conjunctive-adverb as an 
adverbial-conjunction, and writers on grammar can be 
quoted in his support, whichever term he adopts 1 . 

268. The meaning affected by the position of 
the Adverb. 

Though the grammatical structure of the sentence may 
be unimpaired by the shifting of the adverb from one place 
to another, the meaning will often be affected by the change 
of position. Consider the difference in the information 
conveyed when we say ' Only John passed in Latin/ ' John 
only passed in Latin' and 'John passed only in Latin.' 
Errors in the position of only are of constant occurrence. 
At one of the large London Clubs, members are informed 

1 Cf. Mason's English Grammar, § 263, and Bain's Higher English 
Grammar, p. 101. 



272 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

that ' Smoking Is only allowed in this room after 8 o'clock.' 
This notice, strictly interpreted, implies that the authorities 
go so far as to allow, but would by no means encourage, 
smoking after 8 o'clock. 

269. Construction with 'Than.' Than is classed 
in some books as an Adverb, in others as a Conjunction. 
In an earlier stage of the language it was an adverb and 
meant 'when': so, 'He is bigger than you' originally meant 
'He is bigger when you are big.' But it may now be treated 
as a conjunction simply. As a conjunction it should be 
followed by the same case as the case of the word denot- 
ing the thing with which the comparison is made. Thus, 
'I like you better than he/ and 'I likd you better than 
him' are both correct, but with different meanings. Sup- 
plying the ellipses, we get in the former sentence 'I like 
you better than he likes you'; in the latter 'I like you 
better than I like him.' 

'Than* and a Relative. When than is followed by the relative 
who, we generally find the objective case whom: Milton's * Beelzebub, 
than whom none higher sat, perceived ' is the classical example, and we 
should probably employ the same form of expression to-day : ' Grace, 
than whom nobody can speak with more authority on cricket, says so ■ ; 
* Gibbon, than whom a more laborious student cannot be found, maintains.' 
Is it right ? Before answering the question we may put another — Is it 
right to say ' It is me * ? If whatever nearly everybody concurs in saying 
is grammatically right, we must admit that whom and mt are right. 
Defensible however from the standpoint of grammatical principles they 
are not. If they were, we might say 'It is her? 'Nobody can speak 
better than him. ' Yet we condemn these expressions as ungrammatical. 

270. Construction of 'As.' As is a conjunctive 
adverb : it not only joins clauses but qualifies a word in the 
clause which it introduces. 'He whistled as (i.e. while) he 
went for want of thought': 'They died as (i.e. in what 
manner) soldiers should.' As is used also as a demonstrative 
antecedent to this conjunctive as/ 'He is as good as (he 
is) clever.' Another antecedent to as is so: 'You are not 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC. 273 

so silly as you seem.' So is only a demonstrative adverb, 
not a conjunctive adverb like as. 

The nouns or pronouns connected by as must be in the 
same case. 'Is she as tall as me}' is therefore wrong: it 
should be 'Is she as tall as /(am tall)?' 'You could have 
done it as well as him ' should be l You could have done it 
as well as he (could have done it).' 

271. 'As follows' or ' As follow'? Ought we to 

say 'The words are as follows' or 'The words are as follow'! 

If as is here a relative pronoun, the relative should agree with its 
antecedent in number. Now the antecedent to as is words, therefore as 
requires a verb in the plural, follow, not follows. Yet we always say as 
.follows, regardless of the number of the antecedent. Perhaps however 
as is here a conjunctive adverb, and there is an ellipsis of the subject it 
before follows : 'The words are as it follows? At any rate, the phrase 
as follows has now become an adverbial expression. In like manner we 
say 'Your remarks so far as concerns me,' where concern would be the 
right form if the ellipsis after the conjunctive adverb as is to be supplied 
by they, 'Your remarks so far as they concern me.' In this instance 
again, we may maintain that the construction is really impersonal, and 
that it, not they, is the word omitted : ' Your remarks so far as it 
concerns me.' Similarly as regards is used in the singular whatever the 
number of the noun to which reference is made: 'Your intentions as 
regards me.' 

272. Construction of 'No.* No is both an adjec- 
tive and an adverb. As an adjective it is the equivalent of 
none, as an adverb, of not. Now it is contrary to English 
idiom to qualify verbs with the adverb no. We say 'I will 
not go/ ' Do not say so,' not ' I will no go/ ' Do no say so.' 
Hence the expression ' whether or no ' admits of defence 
only when there is an ellipsis of a noun : ' Whether he is 
a knave or no I cannot say ' may be explained as an abridg- 
ment of ' Whether he is a knave or no knave] whereas 
'Whether he is a knave or nof is an abridgment of 'Whether 
he is a knave or is not a knave.' When a verb is suppressed, 
'whether or not' is the only admissible expression. That 
it is wrong to say 'Whether or no he did it/ we may see by 

w. e.g. X 8 



274 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

resolving the sentence into its component parts : 'Whether 
he did it, or he did it not.' 

273. Ellipsis arising from the desire to be brief is a 
frequent cause of error, We say 'You are as good or 
better than he/ where as is required after good to make the 
sentence formally correct. So again in the sentence ' You 
work harder but not so successfully as he,' harder requires 
than. To supply these missing words and to say ' You are 
as good as or better than he/ 'You work harder than but not 
so successfully as he/ would be to employ modes of speech 
too elaborately precise for everyday purposes. We can 
steer clear of an error of syntax on the one hand and of 
pedantry on the other by saying ' You are as good as he, 
or better/ 'You work harder than he does, but not so 
successfully.' 

Ellipsis is seen in the following sentence : — ' He did it 
without intending to/ 

Sentences of this type are usually condemned as un- 
grammatical, on the ground that the missing words, required 
after to for the completion of the sentence, are not did it 
but do it. It seems pedantic however to object to such a 
form of expression. If it is allowable to say 'He is taller 
than you/ where we supply ' are tall ' to make the construc- 
tion complete, it ought to be allowable to supply in thought 
'do it' as suggested by 'did it.' Such expressions may be 
justified as constructions Kara <rvv€<riv, that is, 'according 
to the understanding/ which supplies what is heeded, by 
appropriately modifying what is already given. 

The following example is too slip-shod to pass muster: — 'Tense 
shows whether something is, has, or will happen.' 

274. Redundant use of 'And.' And is often used 
pleonastically, that is to say, where it is superfluous, before 
who and which ; ' He is a man of a thousand and in whom 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC. 275 

I place entire confidence/ 'These are some of the errors 
in his books and which it would be tedious to enumerate.' 
The presence of the and seems to be due to a desire 
to avoid misunderstanding in the reference of the relative 
to its antecedent. If we said i a thousand in whom/ whom 
might be taken as referring to 'thousand/ instead of to 
' man/ and if we said ' in his books which/ which might be 
taken as referring to 'books' instead of to 'errors.' The 
and however is clearly redundant, and ambiguity should be 
avoided by casting the sentence differently. When one 
relative clause has occurred already, a second relative 
clause is rightly introduced by and: 'This is the book 
which you lent me and which I have read with interest.' 
There is no reason in grammar or in logic why and which 
should not be used, even if no relative clause has occurred 
already, provided that the antecedent of which has already 
been limited by adjectival adjuncts : ' He has painted a 
picture striking, suggestive, refined, and which no other 
artist has equalled.' The clause introduced by and is equi- 
valent to ' excellent.' We should say ' striking, suggestive, 
refined, and excellent/ so there is no reason why we should 
not say 'striking, suggestive, refined, and which no other 
artist has equalled.' At the same time one must admit 
that the construction has an unpleasant sound, though 
Thackeray, who is a master of style, often makes use 
of it 

Repetition or Omission of the Conjunction. The student should 
notice that, although we ordinarily insert and before only the last of 
several nouns or adjectives which occupy the same relation to the rest of 
the sentence, for rhetorical purposes the conjunction may be either 
repeated or dropped altogether. The departure from the normal usage 
arrests attention and heightens the effect. This may be observed in the 
following passages : 

* Love was not in their looks... but guilt and shame and perturbation 
and despair and anger and obstinacy and hate and guile. ' 

1 Fall, dark curtain, upon his pageant, his pride, his grief, his awful 
tragedy.' l3 _ 2 



276 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

The redundant use of conjunctions is called Polysyndeton, ■ much- 
linked ' ; the omission of conjunctions is called Asyndeton, ' not linked.' 

275. Omission of 'That.' The conjunction that 
is often omitted: 'He said (that) he was going/ 'I thought 
(that) I had done it.' 

Notice the different parts of speech to which that belongs in the 
sentence * I deny that that that that man said is true. ' The first that is 
a conjunction; the second, a demonstrative pronoun; the third, a rela- 
tive pronoun, equivalent to which ; the fourth, a demonstrative adjective. 

276. Correlative Conjunctions. Conjunctions 
which occur in pairs are called Correlative. Such are 
though .. .yet, either... or p , whether .. .or, both. ..and. 

Similarly, the demonstrative adjectives such and same 
and the demonstrative adverb so have appropriate correla- 
tives. In the sentences, 'This exercise has such mistakes 
as I never saw before/ 'This exercise is the same as you 
showed up yesterday/ as is a relative pronoun : in 'I am 
not so mean as to act thus/ as is a conjunctive adverb. 
Such and so are followed by the conjunction that when the 
result or purpose of an action is indicated : * He made 
such mistakes that he failed to pass/ ' He took such pains 
that he might pass/ 'He worked so hard that he might 
pass/ In strictness so always requires a correlative to 
express the comparison which it implies; but in common 
speech so is used with the meaning of very, and the com- 
parison is not expressed: 'She is so pretty, and he is so 
nice/ 

The following sentence illustrates two common forms of 

error in connexion with the use of neither : 'You neither 

honour your father or your mother.' 

Two points require correction here : (i) neither... nor sue correlatives, 
not neither. .. or : (2) neither and nor must be placed before the words 
denoting the things or acts which we wish to exclude. Hence we must 
Say (a) * You honour neither your father nor your mother,' or (b) 'You 
do not honour either your father or your mother.' Neither placed before 
honour suggests some other verb to which nor should apply : * You 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC. 277 

neither honour nor obey your father or your mother.' This misplace- 
ment of neither may often be found in the best writers, but this fact 
does not make it legitimate. 

277. Idiomatic use of particular prepositions. 

Particular prepositions are appropriate after certain verbs, 
nouns, and adjectives : the use of a different preposition is 
a violation of idiom. Thus we say ' conform to, 1 but ' con- 
formity with* ; 'dependent on, 9 but 'independent of'; 'part 
from a person/ 'part with a thing'; 'disappointed of some- 
thing' which we cannot get, 'disappointed in something' 
when we have got it 'Differ' and 'different' are often 
used with the wrong preposition. When we disagree with 
a person we differ from him. Persons frequently say 'I 
beg to differ with you,' when they mean ' to differ from 
you.' If A and B agree in differing from C, we may say 
that A differs with B, but in no other sense is the use of 
with correct. Again, it is a common mistake to say 'dif- 
ferent to ' ; ' different from ' is prescribed by our idiom. 
We can speak however of ' a difference with a person ' and 
of 'a difference between two things.' The student can test 
his familiarity with English usage by combining with suit- 
able prepositions the words given in Question 5 at the 
end of this chapter. 

Errors both of pleonasm and of ellipsis occur in the 
use of prepositions, especially in connexion with relative 
pronouns. Pleonasm, or redundancy, is seen in these 
sentences : 

4 It is to you to whom I am indebted for this favour.' 
4 It is to this last new feature of the game laws to which we intend 
to confine our notice.' 

In the following, there is omission : 

' My duelling pistols in rosewood case (same which I shot Captain 
Marker), £io* 

4 Had I but served my God with half the zeal 
'I served my king, he would not in mine age 
'Have left me naked to mine enemies.' 



278 ELEMENTS OE ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

' Participles express action with the time it happens.' 
1 And virgins smiled at what they blushed before* ' 

Questions. 

1. Distinguish between an adverb and a conjunction. Parse the 
word as in both places in * You are not as rich as he is.' 

Classify adverbs according to their formation, giving examples. 

Classify conjunctions. Write three short sentences in which the 
word but occurs as a conjunction, a preposition, and an adverb re- 
spectively. 

2. What three parts of speech may that be? Construct three sen- 
tences to illustrate your answer. 

3. What is a preposition? Distinguish between the uses of pre- 
positions and conjunctions. Give two examples of phrase-adve?'bs and 
phrase-prepositions. 

[Phrase-adverbs : ' of a truth,' * nowadays,' * by no means,' ' at times,' 
'in front,' 'for ever and ever,' 'in a canter,' 'head over ears.' 

Phrase-prepositions : ' by means of,' ' in accordance with,' ■ in conse- 
quence of,' ■ in reply to,' ' with a view to,' 'for the sake of.'] 

4. Correct : — ' Should the frost continue as sharp as last week, 
which I do hope it may, the large pond will bear.' 

[How can we compare a frost with a week ?] 

'They know that as well as me.' 

• She had a very fair complexion, and which was quite different to 
her sister's.' 

' Many an emigrant have regretted the domestic pleasures from which 
they have been deprived, and which were impossible to be carried to 
their new country.' 

4 1 hope to see you next week, and believe me, yours sincerely.' 

5. W T hat Prepositions are found in combination with the following 
words : — absolve, abhorrence, acquit, adapted, agreeable, averse, call, 
change, confer, confide, correspond, discourage, eager, exception, expert, 
glad, made, need, prejudice, provide, taste, thirst, worthy } 

Correct : — ' It bears some remote analogy with what I have de- 
scribed. ' 

' You are in no danger of him.' 

6. Certain words are used in English sometimes as prepositions, 
sometimes as conjunctions. Give examples and write sentences in 
which such words occur, specifying the part of speech in each example. 

Write four sentences containing the word after and make it (1) an 
adjective, (2) an adverb, (3) a preposition, (4) a conjunction. 

Form sentences to show the different uses of the words for, since, 
but, mentioning in each case the part of speech which the word is. 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC, 279 

7. The following sentences are faulty as regards the order of the 
words 1 . The meaning is not free from ambiguity, and rearrangement is 
necessary. 

1 1 saw many dead soldiers riding across the battle-field. ' 

1 1 never remember to have seen such a storm.' 

1 His success is neither the result of system nor strategy.' 

4 Lost near the market-place a large Spanish blue gentleman's cloak.' 

'He seldom took up the Bible, which he frequently did, without 

shedding tears.' 

4 The beaux of that day used the abominable art of painting their 

faces as well as the women.' 

* Erected to the memory of John Phillips accidentally shot as a mark 
of affection by his brother.' 

* Wanted a pianoforte for a gentleman with carved legs.' 

* Rats and gentlemen catched and waited on by Solomon Gundy.' 

' We regret to say that a mad dog yesterday bit the editor of the 
Western News and several other dogs.' 

* Wanted a boy to open oysters with a reference.' 

* The procession was very impressive and nearly a mile in length as 
was also the sermon of the minister.' 

* A man was run over in Cheapside this morning by a cab while 
drunk.' 

* Raw cows' milk is better for children than boiled.' 

* A transitive verb is when its action passes to an object.' 
[Change the position of the word * transitive ' : a verb is a word, 

not a time.] 

8. Many sentences are faulty owing to incoherence of thought, 
although they may contain no violation of grammatical rules. Point 
out any incoherence or confusion in the following sentences : 

1 The horse is a noble animal, but if you treat him unkindly he will 
not do so.' 

' Prisoner at the bar, Providence has endowed you with great bodily 
strength, instead of which you go about the country stealing ducks.' 

* Salt is what makes the potatoes taste nasty when you don't put 
any on.' 

* If I am not mistaken, I met you yesterday.' 
'Towards the close of his life he committed suicide.' 
'I shan't do more than I can help.' 

'The guilelessness of his own heart led him to expect none in others. 
'This is the most wonderful preparation of modern times for the 
entire restoration of dimness or partial loss of sight.' 

'I shall have much pleasure in accepting your kind invitation.' 

1 A large collection of examples is given in Hodgson's Errors in the 
use of English : also in Salmon's School Composition* 



2 8o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

9. Distinguish the different meanings obtained by changing the 
position of the word only in the following: — 'John attempted only 
three problems.' 

Is any alteration necessary in the sentence — • I called, only I Could 
not stop long ' ? 

[Only is often used instead of but, as a conjunction to express oppo- 
sition to what precedes : ■ I called, but in one respect my call was 
limited, namely, that I could not stop long.'] 

Distinguish between — * Only he lost his child/ * He only lost his 
child,' ' He lost only his child,' * He lost his only child,' * He lost his 
child only.' 

10. What meaning do you attach to the following sentences ? — 
* You punished me more severely than she.' 

' You punished me more severely than her.' 
Correct where necessary : — ' Wilt boast boidlier than me ? ' 
[In Elizabethan literature examples often occur of the comparison of 
adverbs in -ly by adding -er and -est. Tennyson and Carlyle have 
imitated the archaism with 'gentlier ' and * proudlier.' Thus boidlier is 
not ungrammatical, though more boldly would be in closer conformity 
with our usage. Me should be /, the same case as thou, which is for 
rhetorical purposes suppressed after wilt,] 
' It is easier said than done.' 

* He did not get so many marks as me.' 

* John never wrote a better letter, nor as good, as James.' 

' You will soon find such peace which it is not in the power of the 
world to give.' 

1 He neither knows French nor German.' 

' Neither John or Thomas considered that morning or evening are 
the best time for study,' 

* He was neither learned in the languages or philosophy.' 
Construct sentences containing the following phrases, rightly used : — 

'Better than he,' 'Better than him,' 'Than whom,' 'And which,' 'As 
good as I,' ' As good as me,' ' Would that.' 

1 1 . Give one example of (a) Relative use of ■ but ' ; (b) Adverbial 
use of ' no ' ; (c) Antecedent implied in Possessive ; (d) Infinitive Abso- 
lute ; (e) Object placed before Verb. 

[For (a) see p. 129. 'There is no one but thinks you mad,' i.e. who 
does not think you mad, (b) ' He is no better.' 

(c) i Poor is our sacrifice whose eyes 

* Are lighted from above.' 
' Our sacrifice whose ? is for ' the sacrifice of us whose.' 

(d) ■ To tell the truth I dislike him/ (c) See p. 239.] 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC. 281 

11. How may conjunctions best be distinguished from adverbs? 
Sometimes conjunctions are used in pairs or are correlative: give ex- 
amples of the use of although and not only with their correlatives. 

13. Comment on — ' I will try and go.' 

[This colloquial use of and instead of to is common with such verbs 
as try, come, go, but it cannot be justified logically in the case of the 
verb try. For though the expressions ' Come and see,' * Go and ask' 
admit of defence on the ground that two distinct actions are commanded, — 
to come and to see, to go and to ask, — only one action is commanded 
when we say ' Try and go ' 2 we mean ' Try in order that you may go.'] 

14. Show that in the following sentences there is Pleonasm, that is, 
redundancy or excess of expression. 

* Traveller, from whence comest thou ? ' 

* Between you and me, I fancy there will be nobody else there but 
you and me.' 

' The river of Kishon swept them away, that ancient river, the river 
Kishon.' 

* After the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. ' 
' He behaved with great magnanimity of mind.' 

' He stooped down to pick up a stone.' 

1 The transparency of his motive is clear to every one.' 

' It is not nor it cannot come to good.' 

' I do not like the house in which I live in.' 

' Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat 
of it.' 

1 And, perhaps, it may be worth revealing the fact that my distrust 
of our present social arrangements was deeply increased \>y a second 
visit to the United States.' 

' I would be the veriest demagogue if I suggested that I had found a 
panacea for the immediate remedy of all those social evils.' 

[What does panacea mean ?] 

4 He has eaten no bread nor drunk no wine these two days.' 
[What is the construction of these two days? See § 243 (5), p. 238.] 
1 The king then entered on that career of misgovernment which, 
that he was able to pursue it, is a disgrace to our history.' 
'And that no woman has; nor never none 
Shall mistress be of it, save I alone.' 
'What shall we say, since silent now is he 
Who, when he spoke, all things would silent be.' 

' I have now the perfect use of all my limbs, except my left arm, 
which I can hardly tell what is the matter with it.' 

' Money is the most universal incitement of human misery. 5 



282 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

15. Write sentences which exemplify the right use of the following 
combinations : — correspond with and to ; confide in and to ; agree to and 
with ; differ with and from ; difference between and with ; provide with, 
for and against; regard for and to; wait on, at and for. 

16. Append to the following words the appropriate prepositions: — 
independent, different, angry, composed, dissent, conversant, conformable, 
disapprove, full, replete. 

How is the meaning of the verb fall affected when it is followed by 
the words in, off, out, to, under, upon, in combination with it? 

17. Point out and explain any peculiarity in the following pair of 
sentences : — 

(1) 4 Excuse my answering your question.' 

(2) ' Excuse my not answering your question.' 

[In spite of the not, the two sentences have the same meaning. This 
is due to the fact that excuse in (1) signifies 'dispense with,' and in 
(2) 'pardon.'] 

18. Explain and illustrate by examples (a) absolute use of parti- 
ciple, (b) reflexive pronoun, (c) inflected subjunctive, (d) correlative 
conjunction. 

19. Give examples of (a) compound gerunds, (b) words which 
are conjunctions and something besides, (c) verbs of incomplete 
predication, (d) the oldest inflexions still in use. 

20. What do you understand by the following terms? — Aryan, 
runes, hybrid, prosody, solecism. 

21. Correct the following sentences wherever the form of expression 
is ungrammatical or misleading : 

' It is better for you and I as it is.' 
4 He having none but them, they having none but he.' 
4 A thousand weary miles now stretch 
Between my love and I.' 
'We might have placed Smith in the first class with no more 
impropriety than we have placed Jones in the second. ' 

[To avoid this slip-shod construction, recast the sentence after the 
word than."] 

4 Neither he nor she are at hand.' 
' The porch was the same width with the temple. ' 
' If he permits this, we shall speedily become as poor as them.' 
4 1 don't believe you have got a better bicycle or even as good as me.' 
' He can do it easy enough, if he don't get nervous.' 
4 And now I never dare to write 
As funny as I can.' 
' From my shoulder to my fingers' ends are as if half dead.' 
' A perfect judge will read each work of wit 
With the same spirit that its author writ.' 



SYNTAX OF ADVERBS, ETC. 283 

* Miss Smith will have much pleasure in accepting Mrs Brown's kind 
invitation.' 

[Whatever pleasure Miss Smith finds in the acceptance of the 
invitation she has at the time when she writes to accept. The pleasure 
which she will have is the pleasure of going to the party.] 

I Thersites' body is as good as Ajax', when neither are alive.' 
'Luckily the monks had recently given away a couple of dogs, 

which were returned to them, or the breed would have been lost. ' 

* He was shot at by a secretary under notice to quit, with whom he 
was finding fault, very fortunately without effect.' 

Old Friend to Artist: ' Look here, old man, I'll tell you what really 
brought me here to-day. The fact is, my wife wants her mother painted 
very badly, — and I naturally thought of you.' 

I I saw a gentleman who had shot hundreds of buffaloes in London 
a month ago. ' 

4 Gibbon was the eldest of five brothers who died in infancy, and of 
a sister who lived a little longer, and whom he knew well enough to 
regret her.' 

4 Adversity both teaches men to think and to feel.' 
4 These kind of books neither interest or gratify you and I.' 
' The army, whom its chief had abandoned, pursued their miserable 
march.' 

* Each of the horses reared and threw their riders.' 
' This was in reality the easiest matter of the two.' 
4 Whom do you think I am ?' 

'lama man that have travelled far.' 

1 Thou my voice inspire 
Who touched Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire.' 

* Each of the girls went to their separate rooms to rest themselves.' 

* He was angry at me quitting the house.' 

4 Art thou proud yet?' 

'Ay, that I am not thee.' 

' Whoever the king favours the cardinal will find employment for.* 

4 No one expressed their opinion so clearly as him .' 

' Everybody has a right to look after their own interests. ' 

4 He talks like Charles and not like you do.' 

' His is a poem, one of the completest works that exists in any 
language.' 

4 Did he not confess his fault and begged to be forgiven ? ' 

' The town mentioned is the warmest of the two.' 

' If the king gave us leave, you or I may as lawfully preach as them 
that do.' 

4 The largest circulation of any Liberal newspaper.' 

' The largest circulation of any other Liberal newspaper.' 

* A larger circulation than any Liberal newspaper.' 



284 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

i 2. Give a few simple rules for Punctuation. 
[It is customary to use — 

(i) a Full-stop at the end of a sentence and after abbrevia- 
tions: — e.g., viz., ult., i.e., M.P., B.A., K.G., Bart. 

(2) a Colon or a Semicolon between sentences grammatically in- 
dependent, but closely connected in sense and not very long. These stops 
are not used extensively by most writers at the present day. Rapid 
readers like to have their sentences chopped up short, so that the mean- 
ing may be taken in at a glance. 

(3) a Comma to separate — 

(a) short co-ordinate sentences: 

(if) subordinate from principal clauses : 

(c) the noun in apposition : 

(d) and the nominative of address : 

(e) and quotations : 

(/) and a series of words having the same construction : e.g. 
* Remote, unfriended, melancholy, slow.' 

(4) a Dash, to separate parentheses and introduce quotations. 
Some writers have a fondness for the dash and employ it in places where 
the comma or semicolon would do equally well. Sterne in the last 
century and Mr Besant in our own make free use of the dash. 

(5) Inverted Commas, to introduce and to end a quotation. 

(6) a Note of Interrogation after direct questions. 

(7) a Note of Exclamation after interjections and exclamations. 
These rules are * few and simple.' The student must bear in mind 

that in using stops at all our sole object is to make our meaning clear ; 
that the insertion of unnecessary stops is a hindrance rather than a help 
to the reader ; that punctuation admits of very few hard and fast laws ; 
that the usage of different writers varies ; and that the author is frequently 
at the mercy of the printer in the matter of stops. Hence it seems a waste 
of time to burden the memory with elaborate principles of punctuation.] 

23. Punctuate the following passage and insert capitals: 
No one venerates the peerage more than I do but my lords I must 
say that the peerage solicited me not I the peerage nay more I can say 
and will say that as a peer of parliament as speaker of this right honour- 
able house as keeper of the great seal as guardian of his majesty's con- 
science as lord high chancellor of england nay even in that character 
alone in which the noble duke would think it an affront to be considered 
as a man I am at this moment as respectable 1 beg leave to add I am at 
this moment as much respected as the proudest peer I now look down 
upon. Thurlow. 



28 5 



APPENDIX I. 



DEFINITIONS OF SOME OF THE PRINCIPAL 
GRAMMATICAL TERMS. 

Grammar is the science which treats of words and their correct use. 

Orthoepy deals with the correct pronunciation of words. 

Orthography deals with the correct spelling or writing of words. 

Etymology deals with the classification of words, their derivation 
and inflexion. 

Syntax deals with the combination of words in sentences, their 
government, agreement, and order. 

Parts of Speech are the classes into which the words of a language 
fall, when they are arranged according to their separate functions in a 
sentence. 

Inflexion is a variation in the form of a wor4 to mark a modification 
of its meaning. 

The Accidence of a language consists of the sum-total of the in- 
flexions which the words in a language undergo. 

Analytic and synthetic are terms applied respectively to languages 
which have few or many inflexions. 



A Noun is the name of anything. 

A Common Noun is one which can be applied to an indefinite 
number of things in the same sense. 

A Singular Noun is one which, can be applied to only one thing in 
the same sense. 

A Proper Noun is a singular name assigned to an individual as a 
mere distinguishing mark. 



286 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

A Collective Noun is one which denotes a number of things regarded 
as forming a whole. 

A Concrete Noun is the name of a thing regarded as possessing 
attributes. 

An Abstract Noun is the name of an attribute or quality of a thing. 

The sum-total of the inflexions marking number and case of a noun 
or pronoun is called its Declension. 

Gender is the form of a noun or pronoun corresponding in English 
to the sex of the thing named. 

Number is an inflexion which shows whether we are speaking of one 
thing or of more than one. 

Case is the form of a noun or pronoun which shows its relation to 
other words in the sentence. 



An Adjective is a word which is used with a noun to limit its 
application. 

A Pronoun is a word used instead of a noun. 

A Relative Pronoun is one which refers to some other noun or 
pronoun, called its antecedent, and has the force of a conjunction. 

A Verb is a word with which we can make an assertion. 

A Transitive Verb is one which indicates an action directed towards 

some object. 

An Intransitive Verb is one which indicates a state, or an action 
which is not directed towards an object. 

A Reflexive Verb is one in which the subject and the object are the 
same. 

A Verb of Incomplete Predication is one which requires the addition 
of some other word to complete its meaning. 

The word which is added to complete the meaning of a verb of 
Incomplete Predication is called the Complement of the Predicate. 

An Auxiliary Verb is one which is used to supply the place of 
inflexions in the conjugation of another verb. 

A Notional Verb is one which has a meaning of its own. 

An Impersonal Verb is one in which the source of the action is not 
expressed. 



APPENDIX I. 287 

The sum-total of the inflexions of a verb is called its Conjugation. 

Voice is the form of a verb which shows whether the subject of the 
sentence stands for the doer or for the object of the action expressed by 
the verb. 

The Active Voice is that form of the verb which shows that the 
subject of the sentence stands for the doer of the action expressed by the 
verb. 

The Passive Voice is that form of the verb which shows that the 
subject of the sentence stands for the object of the action expressed by 
the verb. 

Mood is the form of a verb which shows the mode or manner in 
which the action is represented. 

The Indicative Mood contains the forms used (1) to make statements 
of fact, (2) to ask questions, and (3) to express suppositions in which the 
events are treated as if they were facts. 

The Imperative Mood contains the form used to give commands. 

The Subjunctive Mood contains the forms used to represent actions 
or states conceived as possible or contingent, but not asserted as facts. 

The Infinitive Mood is the form which denotes actions or states 
without reference to person, number, or time. 

A Gerund is a verbal noun in -ing which, when formed from a 
transitive verb, can take after it an object. 

A Participle is a verbal adjective. The active participle of a transi- 
tive verb differs from an ordinary adjective in taking an object. 

Tense is the form of a verb which shows the time at whicrr the action 
is represented as occurring and the completeness or incompleteness of 
the action. 

A Simple Tense is one which is expressed by a single word. 

A Compound Tense is one which is expressed by the help of an 
auxiliary verb. 

Perfect and Imperfect are terms applied respectively to tenses 
denoting actions which are completed or in progress. 

A Weak Verb is one which forms its past tense by adding -ed, -d, or 
•/, to the present. 

A Strong Verb is one which forms its past tense by change of vowel 
without the addition of any suffix. 



288 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Person is the form of a verb which shows whether the subject of the 
sentence stands for the speaker, for the person addressed, or for some 
other thing. 

An Adverb is a word which modifies the meaning of a verb, 
adjective, or other adverb. 

A Conjunctive Adverb is one which joins sentences. 

A Preposition is a word which is used with a noun, or pronoun, to 
show its relation to some other word in the sentence. 

A Conjunction is a word, other than a relative pronoun or conjunc- 
tive adverb, which joins words and sentences. 

A Co-ordinating Conjunction is one which joins co-ordinate or 
independent clauses. 

A Subordinating Conjunction is one which joins a dependent clause 
to the principal clause. 



A Sentence is the complete expression of a thought in words. 

A Clause is a part of a sentence containing a finite verb. 

A Phrase is a collection of words without a finite verb. 

A Simple Sentence contains only one subject and one finite verb. 

A Compound Sentence contains two or more independent clauses 
joined by co-ordinating conjunctions. 

A Complex Sentence contains two or more clauses, of which at 
least one is dependent. 

It might also be defined as a sentence which contains a clause 
introduced by a subordinating conjunction. 

The Subject of a sentence is the word which stands for the thing 
about which the assertion is made. 

The Predicate is the word by means of which the assertion is made. 

The Object of a verb is the word which stands for the thing towards 
which the action indicated by the verb is directed. 



Concord is the agreement of two or more connected words as regards 
their gender, number, case, or person. 

Government is the influence exercised upon the case of a noun, or 
pronoun, by another word. 

Order is the arrangement of words in a sentence. 



APPENDIX I. 289 

When one noun is used to explain another, it is put in the same case 
and is said to be in Apposition. 

A noun, or pronoun, and a participle, which are independent in con- 
struction of the rest of the sentence, are said to be in the Absolute 

construction. 

Ellipsis is the omission of a word or words necessary to complete the 
grammatical structure of the sentence. 

Pleonasm is redundancy or excess of expression. 

Solecism is an error in grammar or pronunciation. 

Anomaly is the name given to any irregularity of accidence. 

Anacoluthcn is the confusion of two constructions. 

The deviation of a word from its right construction, owing to the 
improper influence of some adjacent word, is said to be due to Attrac- 
tion. 

Asyndeton is the omission of conjunctions. 

Polysyndeton is the redundant use of conjunctions. 



Composition is the formation of a word by joining words together. 

Derivation is the formation of a new word (1) by adding to a word 
a part not significant by itself, or (2) by modifying an existing sound. 

A sound not significant by itself which is added to a word to form a 
derivative is called an Affix. Attached at the beginning of a word it is 
called a Prefix, attached at the end, a Suffix. 

A Hybrid is a compound or derivative containing elements which 
come from different languages. 

A Syllable consists of a single vowel sound with or without accom- 
panying consonants. 



Analysis is the resolution of a sentence into its essential parts. 

Parsing is the statement of the part of speech to which a word 
belongs, its inflexion if it has any, and its syntactical relations with other 
words in the sentence. 



An Alphabet is the complete collection of the letters used in writing 
a language. 

A Phonetic System of spelling is one in which words are written 
according to their sound. 

W. E. G. 19 



2 9 o ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

Orthographical expedients are devices by which the deficiencies of 
an alphabet are supplied. 

Accent is the stress of the voice laid upon a syllable in a word. 

Emphasis is the stress of the voice laid upon a word or words in a 
sentence. 

Metathesis is a transposition of letters in a word. 

Umlaut is the modification of a root- vowel owing to the influence of 
a suffix. 

Changes in words arising from a desire to economise effort in speech 
are said to be due to Euphony. 

A Vowel is a sound by the aid of which any consonantal sound can 
be audibly produced. 

A Consonant is a sound which will not enable us to produce audibly 
sounds which are by themselves almost inaudible. 

A Diphthong is a combination of two vowel sounds in the same 
syllable. 



29* 



APPENDIX II. 



PASSAGES FOR ANALYSIS. 

1. Who is this? — Why are you so late? — Give me your hand. — To 
bliss domestic he his heart resigned. — There is said to have been a 
battle. — He will succeed or die. — Twilight's soft dews steal o'er the 
village green. — Let me stay at home. — His horse being killed, he was 
taken prisoner. — Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers. 

2. Whatever the consequences may be, I shall go my way. — Uneasy 
lies the head that wears a crown. — No other allegorist has ever been 
able to make abstractions objects of terror, of pity, and of love. — None 
but the brave deserves the fair. — This is made of the same material as 
that. 

3. Who will undertake it, if it be not also a service of honour ? — 
Won is the glory, and the grief is past. — It is not true that he said that. 
— Plain living and high thinking are no more. — To the great virtues of 
that gentleman I shall always join with my country in paying a just 
tribute of applause. 

4. I am monarch of all I survey, 

My right there is none to dispute. 

5. Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's close, 
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose. 

6. Hope for a season bade the world farewell, 
And Freedom shrieked as Kosciusko fell. 

7. The stag at eve had drunk his fill, 
Where danced the moon on Monan's rill, 
And deep his midnight lair had made 

In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. 

8. He that has light within his own clear breast 
May sit i' the centre and enjoy bright day. 

9. To me the meanest flower that blows can give 
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. 

19 — 2 



292 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

10. Stone walls do not a prison make, 

Nor iron bars a cage ; 
A free and quiet mind can take 
These for a hermitage. 

11. High on a throne of royal state 
Satan exalted sat, by merit raised 

To that bad eminence. 

12. Last noon beheld them full of lusty light ; 

Last eve, in beauty's circle proudly gay ; 
The midnight brought the signal sound of strife, 
The morn, the marshalling of arms. 

13. The World is too much with us: late and soon, 
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: 
Little we see in Nature that is ours ; 

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! 

14. This vesper-service closed, without delay, 
From that exalted station to the plain 
Descending, we pursued our homeward course, 
In mute composure, o'er the shadowy lake, 
Under a fated sky. 

15. Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear; 

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

16. The innocent are gay; the lark is gay, 
That dries his feathers, saturate with dew, 
Beneath the rosy cloud, while yet the beams 
Of dayspring overshoot his humble nest. 

17. In this poor gown my dear lord found me first, 
And loved me serving in my father's hall : 
And this poor gown I will not cast aside 
Until himself arise a living man 

And bid me cast it. 

18. The heights, by great men reached and kept, 
W T ere not attained by sudden flight ; 

But they, while their companions slept, 
Were toiling upward in the night. 

19. Then burst his mighty heart; 
And, in his mantle muffling up his face, 
Even at the base of Pompey's statue, 

Which all the while ran blood, great Csesar fell. 



APPENDIX II. 293 

20. How happy is he born and taught, 
That serveth not another's will ; 
Whose armour is his honest thought, 
And simple truth his utmost skill I 

21. And statesmen at her council met 

Who knew the seasons when to take 
Occasion by the hand, and make 
The bounds of freedom wider yet. 

22. When the men who were exploring the pit ascertained that the 
water had reached a certain level, they knew that the imprisoned 
colliers could not be rescued without great difficulty. 

23. Soon as the evening shades prevail, 
The moon takes up the wondrous tale, 
And nightly to the listening earth 
Repeats the story of her birth : 

Whilst all the stars that round her burn, 
And all the planets in their turn 
Confirm the tidings as they roll, 
And spread the truth from pole to pole. 

24. He many an evening to his distant home 
In solitude returning saw the hills 
Grow larger in the darkness; all alone 
Beheld the stars come out above his head, 

And travelled through the wood with no one near. 

25. Intermit no watch 
Against a wakeful foe, while I, abroad, 
Through all the coasts of dark destruction seek 
Deliverance for us all. 

26. The lively Grecian, in a land of hills, 
Rivers and fertile plains, and sounding shores, 
Under a cope of sky more variable, 

Could find commodious place for every god, 
Promptly received, as prodigally brought, 
From the surrounding countries, at the choice 
Of all adventurers. 

27. Thus with the year 
Seasons return: but not to me returns 

Day, or the sweet approach of even or noon, 
Or sight of vernal bloom or summer's rose, 
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine; 
But clouds instead and ever during dark 
Surrounds me, from the cheerful ways of men 
Cut off. 



294 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR, 

28. Breathes there the man with soul so dead, 
Who never to himself hath said, 

This is my own, my native land! 
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned, 
As home his footsteps he hath turned 

From wandering on a foreign strand? 

29. Now is the winter of our discontent 

Made glorious summer by this sun of York, 
And all the cloads that lour'd upon our house 
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. 

30. That time of year thou mayst in me behold 
When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang 
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold 
Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. 

31. And where two raging fires meet together, 
They do consume the thing that feeds their fury: 
Though little fire grows great with little wind, 
Yet extreme gusts will blow out fire and all. 

32. There at the foot of yonder nodding beech 

That wreathes its old fantastic roots so high, 
His listless length at noon-tide would he stretch, 
And pore upon the brook that babbles by. 

33. As travellers oft look back at eve 

When eastward darkly going, 
To gaze upon that light they leave 

Still faint behind them glowing, — 
So, when the close of pleasure's day 

To gloom hath near consigned us, 
We turn to catch one fading ray 

Of joy that's left behind us. 

34. But whilst, unconscious of the silent change 
Thus stol'n around him, o'er the dying bard 
Hung Wolfram, on the breeze there came a sound 
Of mourning moving down the narrow glen; 

And looking up, he suddenly was ware 
Of four white maidens, moving in the van 
Of four black monks who bore upon her bier 
The flower-strewn corpse of young Elizabeth. 

35. Once on a time, an emperor, a wise man, 
No matter where, in China or Japan, 
Decreed that whosoever should offend 
Against the well-known duties of a friend, 
Convicted once, should ever after wear 
But half a coat, and show his bosom bare. 



APPENDIX II. 295 

86. The swallow stopt as he hunted the bee, 

The snake slipt under a spray, 
The wild hawk stood with the down on his beak, 

And stared, with his foot on the prey, 
And the nightingale thought, ■ I have sung many songs, 

'But never a one so gay, 
4 For he sings of what the world will be 

'When the years have died away.' 

87. Daughter of Jove, relentless power, 

Thou tamer of the human breast, 
Whose iron scourge and torturing hour 

The bad affright, afflict the bestl 
Bound in thy adamantine chain 
The proud are taught to taste of pain, 
And purple tyrants vainly groan 
With pangs unfelt before, unpitied and alone, 

88. Orpheus with his lute made trees 
And the mountain tops that freeze 

Bow themselves, when he did sing; 
To his music plants and flowers 
Ever sprung, as sun and showers 

There had made a lasting spring. 

39. We leave the well- beloved place 

Where first we gazed upon the sky ; 

The roofs, that heard our earliest cry. 
Will shelter one of stranger race. 
We go, but ere we go from home, 

As down the garden walks I move, 

Two spirits of a diverse love 
Contend for loving masterdom. 

40. If this great world of joy and pain 

Revolve in one sure track; 
If freedom set will rise again, 

And virtue flown come back; 
Woe to the purblind crew who fill 

The heart with each day's care; 
Nor gain, from past or future, skill 

To bear and to forbear. 

41 • In such a place as this, at such an hour, 

If ancestry in aught can be believed, 
Descending spirits have conversed with man, 
And told the secrets of the world unknown. 



2 9 6 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

42. Those who reason in this manner do not observe that they 
are setting up a general rule, of all the least to be endured; namely, 
that secrecy, whenever secrecy is practicable, will justify any action. 

43. To thine own self be true, 

And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

44. Being angry with one who controverts an opinion which you 
value, is a necessary consequence of the uneasiness which you feel. 

45. This is the state of man ; to-day he puts forth 
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms, 
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him: 
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost, 
And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely 
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root, 

And then he fails, as I do. 

46. Wide through the landscape of his dream 

The lordly Niger flowed; 
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain 

Once more a king he strode, 
And heard the tinkling caravans 

Descend the mountain road. 

47. What stronger breast-plate than a heart untainted? 
Thrice is he armed, that hath his quarrel just; 
And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted. 

4S. Deaf to King Robert's threats and cries and prayers, 
They thrust him from the hall and down the stairs; 
A group of tittering pages ran before, 
And, as they opened wide the folding-door, 
His heart failed, for he heard, with strange alarms, 
The boisterous laughter of the men-at-arms, 
And all the vaulted chamber roar and ring, 
With the mock plaudits of ' Long live the king.' 

49. But when the sun was sinking in the sea 

He seized his harp, which he at times could string 
And strike, albeit with untaught melody, 
W^hen deem'd he no strange ear was listening: 
And now his fingers o'er it he did fling, 
And tuned his farewell in the dim twilight. 

50. They heard, and were abashed, and up they sprung, 
Upon the wing, as when men wont to watch 

On duty, sleeping found by whom they dread, 
Rouse and bestir themselves ere well awake. 



APPENDIX II. 297 

61. So cheered he his fair spouse, and she was cheer'd; 
But silently a gentle tear let fall 
From either eye, and wip'd them with her hair; 
Two other precious drops that ready stood, 
Each in their crystal sluice, he ere they fell 
Kiss'd, as the gracious signs of sweet remorse 
And pious awe, that feared to have offended. 

52. Hadst thou but shook thy head, or made a pause, 
When I spake darkly what I purposed ; 

Or turn'd an eye of doubt upon my face, 

As bid me tell my tale in express words; 

Deep shame had struck me dumb, made me break off. 

And those thy fears might have wrought fears in me. 

53. Long time in even scale 

The battle hung; till Satan, who that day 

Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms 

No equal, ranging through the dire attack 

Of fighting seraphim confused, at length 

Saw where the sword of Michael smote, and felled 

Squadrons at once. 

54. Long time they thus together travelled, 
Till, weary of their way, they came at last, 
Where grew two goodly trees, that faire did spred 
Their armes abroad, with gray mosse overcast; 
And their greene leaves trembling with every blast, 
Made a calme shadow far in compasse round. 

55. While some on earnest business bent 

Their murmuring labours ply 
'Gainst graver hours, that bring constraint 

To sweeten liberty, 
Some bold adventurers disdain 
The limits of their little reign 
And unknown regions dare descry: 
Still as they run they look behind, 
They hear a voice in every wind 

And snatch a fearful joy. 

56. Though a scholar must have faith in his master, yet a man well 
instructed must judge for himself; for learners owe to their masters 
only a temporary belief, and a suspension of their own judgment till 
they are fully instructed, and not an absolute resignation or perpetual 
captivity. 



298 ELEMENTS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. 

57. Fame is the spur that the clear spirit doth raise, 

That last infirmity of noble mind, 
To scorn delights and live laborious days, 

But the fair guerdon when we hope to find 
And think to burst out into sudden blaze 

Comes the blind Fury with th' abhorred shears 

And slits the thin-spun life. 

58. Since words are only names for things, it would be more con- 
venient for all men to carry about them such things as are necessary to 
express the particular business they are to discourse on. 

59. Bless'd are those 

Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, 

That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 

To sound what stop she please. Give me that man 

That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 

In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart, 

As I do thee. 

60. Dangerous it were for the feeble brain of man to wade far into 
the doings of the Most High ; whom although to know be life, and joy 
to make mention of His name, yet our soundest knowledge is to know 
that we know Him not as indeed He is, neither can know Him. 



299 



INDEX. 



A, impure, 47 ; feminine suffix, 82 ; and 
an, 107; form of on, 111 ; as prefix, 
203 

Abbess, 83 

Absolute nominative, 231 ; erroneous use 
of participle in, 232, 240 

Abstract nouns, 76 

Accent, 51 

Accidence, definition of, 66 

Address, nominative of, 97, 231 

Adjectives, definition of, 103; compared 
with verbs, 104; classified, 104; used 
as nouns, 106; inflexion of, 112; not 
admitting comparison, 113 ; comparison 
of, 114; suffixes forming, 202 ; followed 
by objective, 238, 245 ; used attribu- 
tively and predicatively, 104, 241 ; 
factitive use of, 241 ; agreement of, 
241 ; order of, 246 

Adjective clauses, 194 

Adjunct, attributive, 212; adverbial, 215 

Adverbs, definition of, 179; classification 
of, 180 ; formation of, 181 ; used as 
adjectives, 183; as nouns, 190; show- 
ing case-endings, 182 ; simple and con- 
junctive, 180; yes and no, 181; com- 
parison of, 182, 280 ; from lie, who, the, 
182; compound, 182; modify certain 
parts of speech, 179; syntax of, 269; 
distinguished from prepositions, 189; 
distinguished from conjunctions, 270; 
meaning affected by position, 271 

Adverbial adjuncts, 215; clauses, 195; 
object, 238 

After % different parts of speech, 64 

Agency, suffixes marking, 202 

Alms, 89 

Alphabet, the English, 55; deficient, re- 
dundant, inconsistent, 55 ; origin of, 
59 ; requirements of a perfect, 55 ; 
phonetic, 56 

Alternative conjunctions, syntax of, 254 

An, a, origin of, 107; uses of, 108; syn- 
tax of, 244 

Anacoluthon, 266 

Analysis, directions for, 216 

Analytic languages, 66 

A nd, redundant use of, 274 ; colloquially 
for to, 281 

Angles, original home of, 4 

Angio- Saxon, meaning of, 5 

Anomaly, in number of nouns, 89 



Antecedent to relative, 125 ; suppressed, 
126 

Any, 129 

Apostrophe in possessive, 98 

Apposition, 233 ; possessive of nouns in, 
' 98 

Archaic plural forms, 88 

Are, 172 

Articles, 107 ; not a separate part of 
speech, 108 ; chief uses of, 109 ; syntax 
of, 244 

Articulate sounds, 62 

Aryan race, original home of, 24; family 
of languages, 24 ; its divisions, 26 ; 
European languages outside, 27 

As, relative pronoun, 129 ; adverb, syn- 
tax of, 272, 276 

' As follow' or ' As follows,' 273 

Aspirates, 53 

Asyndeton, 276 

Attraction, 248, 251, 255 

Attribute, 104 ; misuse of term, 251 

Attributive use of adjectives, 104, 241 

Aught, 129 

Augmentatives, 202 

Auxiliary verbs, 138, 171 

Aye, sound of diphthong in, 46 

Basque, 28 

Be, conjugation of, 146: test for subjunc- 
tive, 148 ; verb of incomplete predica- 
tion, 137 ; uses of, 172 

Beef, 13, 88 

Better, best, 115 

Breaths, 42 

Brethren, 88 

Bridegroom, 84 

Britain, Roman conquest of, 2 ; English 
conquest of, 2 

Britons a Keltic race, 2 ; language of, 2; 
what became of the, 4 

But, meanings of, 64 ; as relative, 129 ; 
idiomatic uses of, 191 

C, redundant letter, 48 

Cambria, 2 

Can, 174 

Capital letters, when used, 60 

Case, definition of, 95; derivation of, 102; 
in English and Latin compared, 95 ; in 
nouns and pronouns compared, 96 ; 
how to determine, 100 ; possessive 97 ; 



300 



INDEX. 



substitute for, 98 ; formation of, 98 ; 
syutax of, 234 

Causative suffixes, 203 

Checks, 42 

Cherubim, 89 

Chicken, 50, 88 

Children, 88 

Cingalese, 27 

Clause, definition of, 213 

Cognate objective, 137 

Cognates, 208 

Collective nouns, 75 ; syntax of, 242, 253 

Common, proper and singular nouns, 73 ; 
gender, nouns of, 80 

Comparatives not followed by than, 117 

Comparison of adjectives, 112; modes of 
marking, 114; irregular, 115; errors of 
syntax in, 243 ; pleonasm in, 116, 244s 
of adverbs, 1S2 

Complement of predicate, 138, 211 

Complex sentence, 194 

Compounds and derivatives, 199 

Compound nouns, plurals of, 91 ; posses- 
sive of, 98 ; relation of parts in, 200; 
compound gerund forms, 154, 229 

Con, 174 

Concord, definition of, 230 ; of pronouns 
and nouns, 246 ; of relative with ante- 
cedent, 247 ; of verbs and subjects, 253 ; 
rules observed in, 260 

Concrete nouns, 76 

Conjugation, definition of, 164; of be, 
146 ; of simple tenses, 165 ; of verb 
with auxiliaries, 166 

Conjunctions, definition of, 192 ; join 
sentences and words, .192 ; classifica- 
tion of, 193 ; co-ordinate, 196 ; sub- 
ordinate, 197 ; derived from other parts 
of speech, 197 ; correlative, 197; alter- 
native, syntax of, 254 

Conjunctive pronouns, 125; adverbs, 180 

Conquest of Britain, Roman, 2; English, 
2 ; Norman, 5 

Consonants defined, 59; classified, 43 

Co-ordinate conjunctions, 193, 254 

Co-ordinating use of relative pronoun, 
129, 218 

Copula, 177 

Could, 174 

Cumbria, 2 
Cunning, 174 
Cymry, 2 

Danish element in English, 18 

Dare, 175 

Dative in old English, 97 ; of infinitive, 

Dativus Commodi, 238 ; Ethicus, 238 
Declension, definition of, 67 
Defective verbs, 171 
Deficiency of alphabet, 56 
Demonstrative pronouns, 123 
Dentals^ 44 

Derivation and composition, 199 
Derivatives, primary and secondary, 206 



Did, 160 

Digraphs, 43 

Diminutives, 201, 207 

Diphthongs, 45, consonantal, 43 

Direct narrative, 258 

Distributive pronouns, 130; syntax of, 

242 
Do, formation of past tense, 160; uses of, 

176; compounds formed with, 176 
Double feminines, 82; comparatives, 116 ; 

superlatives, 116 
Dozen, 107 
Drake, 84 
Dual number, 86 
Duchess, 83 
Dutch words in English, 7, 19 

E, addition of mute, 57 

Each, etymology, 130 ; syntax, 242 

Eaves, 80 

-ed, as adjectival suffix, 202 

Either, etymology, 130 ; syntax, 242 

Elder and older, 115 

Eleven, 106 

Ellipsis, definition of, 216; a cause of 
error, 274 

Else, 229 

% em, olddative plural of he, 122 n. 

Emphasis, definition of, 51 

-en, feminine suffix, 82; plural suffix, 88 : 
adjective suffix, 202 ; verb suffix, 203 ; 
past participle suffix, 159 

English conquest of Britain, 2; who they 
were, 3 ; whence they came, 4 ; lan- 
guage formerly pure, 27 ; now mixed, 
27 ; its constituents, 9 

Enlargement of subject, 213 ; of predi- 
cate, 215 

-*r, suffix, plural, 88 ; comparative, it 4 
masculine, 202 ; verbal, 203 

Erse, 2, 26 

-es, plural suffix, 86 

-ess, feminine suffix, 82 

Etymology, definition of, 34 

Euphonic changes, 50 

Events affecting the formation of English 
vocabulary, 7, 20 

Excuse, two meanings of, 282 

Expedients, orthographical, 57 

Explosives, 42 

Extension, meaning of, 212, 214 

Every, etymology, 130 ; syntax, 241 

F, plural of nouns ending in, 87 

Factitive verbs, 231; object, 238; use of 
adjectives, 241 

Family of languages, Aryan, 24; Se- 
mitic, 28 

Farther, 116 

Feminine, see Gender ; double forms, 82 

' Few' and ' a few,' 242 

Fewer and less, 242 

Finite and Infinite applied to forms of 
the verb, 148 

Finnish, 28 



INDEX. 



\o\ 



First, 116 

' First tivo ' and ' two Just* 244 
Five, 106 
/^Tv, plural of, 88 
-fold, 107 

for- and fore-, prefixes, 203 
Foreign plural forms, 89 
Former, 116 

French influence on English language, 7 
Frequentative suffix, 203 
Friday, absence of possessive s, 101 
Further, 116 
Future, how expressed in subjunctive, 

262 ; table of forms, 256 ; predictive 

and promissive, 173 

Gaffer and gammer, 84 

Gander, 84 

ge- in yclept 1 164 

Gender, comparison of English and other 
languages as regards, 80 ; distinguished 
from sex, 80 ; definition of, 81 ; modes 
of marking, 82 ; in pronouns, 131 ; of 
nouns in apposition, 233 

Genitive, see Possessive ; meaning of 
word, 235 ; relations expressed by old, 
101 ; subjective and objective, 236 

Gerund, definition of, 152 ; compound 
forms of, 154, 229 

Gerundial infinitive, 149 

Go, 164 ; not an auxiliary, 156 

Government, definition of, 230 

Grammar, definition of, 36; divisions of s 
36 ; an Art or a Science, 32 

Greek words in English, 17 

Gutturals, 44 

Have, uses of, 172; with past participle, 

153 
He, she, it, 122, 132 
Hebrew plurals in English, 89 
Hellenic stock, 26 
High German, meaning of name, 4 
Hight, shows reduplication, 160 
Hint, 131 
How, 182 

Hungarian language, 27 
Hybrids, 203 
Hyphen, where placed, 205 

I, diphthongal, 46 

I, personal pronoun, 122 

If, assumption expressed by, 262 

Imperative mood, 145 

Imperfect, meaning of, as applied to 

tenses, 157; tenses, 155 
Impersonal verbs, 139 
Inceptive verbs, 156 
Inconsistency of alphabet, 57 
Indefinite quantitative adjectives, 104 ; 

pronouns, 129 ; article, see Article ; 

tenses, 155; present, uses of, 157 
Indicative mood, 144 
Indirect object, 97, 214; narrative, 258 



Indo-European family of languages, 24 ; 
languages outside, 27 ; tabie of, 29 

-ine, feminine suffix, 82 

Infinitive mood, 149; equivalent to a 
noun, 149; without to, 149; simple and 
gerundial, 149 ; prolative, 212 ; split 
infinitive, 266 

Inflexions, definition of, 65 ; in English 
only few, 65 ; mostly of English origin, 
66; consequences of loss of" 67; mark- 
ing gender, 82 ; number, 86 ; case, 96 ; 
comparison, 114; retained in pronouns, 
131 ; in adverbs, 182 

Inflexional and non-inflexional languages, 
66 

-ing, suffix, patronymic, 18 ; diminutive, 
201 ; verbal, 150; origin of, 264; errors 
of syntax with, 264 

Intentional tenses, so-called, 156 

Interjections, 198 

Interrogative pronouns, 127 

Intransitive verbs, S35 ; becoming tran- 
sitive, 136 

Iranian, 27 

Irish, or Erse, 2, 26 

It, 122 ; anticipatory subject, 218 

Italic stock, 26 

Its, 122 

J, redundant letter, 48 ; distinguished 

from i, 60 
Jutes, original home of, 4 

Keltic dialects in Britain, 2 , race, Britons 

a, 2 ; words in English, 9 
Kine, 88 
Kitten, 50 

Labials, 44 

Lady, 84 

Lady-day, absence of possessive s, 101 

Languages, table of Indo- European, 29 : 
spoken and written, 30 

Langue d'oil and langue d'oc, 6 

Lappish, 27 

Last and latest, 115 

1 Last two ' and ' tzvo last,' 244 

Latin element in English, 10 ; words of 
1st period, 10; 2nd period, n; 3rd 
period, n; 4th period, 13; proportion 
of t in vocabulary, 14 ; in use, 15 ; 
suffixes, 201 ; prefixes, 203 

Less, 115 

Less and fewer, 242 

Letters, Runic, 59 ; capital, 60 ; inserted 
or dropped, 50 

Like, uses of, 246 

Linguals, 44 

Liquids, 43 

Lord, 84 

Low German, meaning of, 4 

-ly, 182; inflected for comparison; 280 

Madam, 84 
Manx, 2, 26 



3° 2 



INDEX. 



Many, syntax of, 243 
Marchioness, 83 
May, 174 
Mediae, 53 
Meseems, 97, 139 
Metathesis, 51 
Me thinks, 97, 139 
Metre, 36 
Might, 174 
Million, 107 
Mistress, 83 
Moods, 144 

More and most, 114, 116 
•most in superlatives, 116 
Much and wry, their adverbial use dis- 
tinguished, 185, 263 
Multiplicatives, 107 
Must, 174 
Mute e final, 57 
Mutes, 42, 53 
Mutual, misuse of, 267 

Natural or obscure vowel, 45 

Naturalization, imperfect, 21, 87 

Naught, 130 

Near, 115 

Needy 175 

Neither, error in use of, 276 

Neuter gender, 80; verbs, 138 

News, 89 

No and yes, 181 ; and not, syntax of, 273 

Nominative, how to determine, 100; ab- 
solute, 231; of address, 97; in analysis, 
218; uses of, 231 

Norman Conquest, 5 

Norman French words in English, 12; 
contained Keltic element but mainly 
Latin, 6; influence on the formation 
of compounds, 17; alphabet, 59; in- 
flexions, 66, 112; formation of plurals, 
101 ; comparison, 114 

Notional verbs, 138 

Nouns, definition of, 69 ; distinguished 
from pronouns, 70; from adjectives, 
70; common, proper, and singular, 71 
proper becoming common, 73; common 
becoming singular, 74; collective, 75 
syntax of, 242, 253; abstract and con 
crete, 76 ; names of materials, 74 ; for- 
mation of abstract, 77 ; gender of, 80 
number of, 86 ; table of plurals of, 86 
without change of form in plural, 89 
apparently plural really singular, 89 
really plural used as singular, 89. 
syntax of, 253; changing meaning in 
plural, 90 ; having two forms of plural 
with different meanings, 90; with no 
plural, 90; with no singular, 91; com- 
pound, 200; plural of, 91; case of, see 
Case; verbal, 151; used as adverbs, 
182; suffixes of, 201 ; syntax of, 231 

Noun clauses, 195; how to deal with in 
analysis, 218 

Number, definition of, 86; in nouns, 86; 
m verbs, 158 



Numerals, cardinal, 105; ordinal, 106; 
multiplicative, 107 ; mostly of English 
origin, 107 

O, impure, 47; plural of nouns ending 
in, 88 

Object, definition of, 136; direct and in- 
direct, 97, 214; retained, 144, 238; of 
verb an adverbial adjunct, 214; en- 
largement of, 214 

Objective case, how to determine, 100; 
syntax of, 237 ; form of in nouns and 
pronouns, 96; cognate, 137; adverbial 
relation of noun in, 214 

Oblique narrative, 258 : cases, 102 

Older and elder, 115 

-om in seldom, 182 

-on, -oon, -one, augmentative suffix, 202 

One, numeral adjective, 106; indefinite 
pronoun, 129 

Only, place of, 271 ; for but, 280 

Order, a part of syntax, 230; of noun in 
nominative, 234 ; in possessive, 237 ; 
in objective, 239; of adjective, 246; 
of personal pronouns, 252; examples 
of faults of, 279 

Orthoepy, definition of, 33 

Orthography, definition of, 33 

Orthographical expedients, 57 

Ought, 175 

Oxen, 88 

Owe and own, 175 

Palatals, 44 

Parsing, directions for, 224 

Participles, definition of, 152; present, 
152; distinguished from other verbal 
forms in -ing, 152; used as prepositions, 
188; used absolutely, 188; common 
error of syntax in use of, 232, 240; 
past, 153; with have, 153; adopted 
with intransitives, 153 

Parts of speech, definition of, 63 ; reduced 
to four groups, 64 ; the same word oc- 
curring under different, 64; inflected 
or not inflected, 65; the articles not 
separate, 108 

Passive voice, 142 

Patronymics, 18 

Paulo-post future tenses, so-called, 156 

Peas, 90 

Pence and pennies, 90 

Perfect and Imperfect as applied to 
tenses explained, 157 

Perfect formed by reduplication, 159 

Person in verbs, 158; origin of inflexions 
marking, 158 

Personal pronouns, 121 

Personification affecting gender, 81 

Phenomenal, misuse of, 267 

Phonetic spelling, 56 

Phonology, 33 

Phrase, defined, 213; absolute, 218; pre- 
positional, 227, 278 

Please, construction of. 229 



INDEX. 



3°3 



Pleonasm, 236, 244. 281 

Plurals of nouns, see Nouns 

Polysyndeton, 276 

Possessive, forms of, 97 ; of nouns in ap- 
position, 98; of compound nouns, 98; 
5 not corruption of his, 100; expressed 
by °fi 99 : functions of, 97 ; syntax of, 
234; pronouns, 131 

Predicate, definition of, 210 ; complement 
of, 138, 211; enlargement of, 215; 
logical and grammatical, 177 

Predicative use of adjectives, 104, 241 

Prefixes, definition of, 200; list of, En- 
glish, 203; Latin, 203; Greek, 204 

Prepositions, defined, 186; compared 
with case-endings, 95 ; need not pre- 
cede nouns, 187; classified, 188; dis- 
tinguished from adverbs, 189; relations 
expressed by, 187; idiomatic use of, 
277 

Present Indefinite, uses of, 157 

Pronouns, defined, 118; distinguished 
from nouns, 70; characteristic of, 119; 
different uses of, 119; classification of, 
120; personal, 121 ; demonstrative, 123 ; 
reflexive, 123; relative, 125; how iden- 
tified, 126; compound, 128; co-ordinat- 
ing and restrictive uses of, 128; inter- 
rogative, 127; indefinite, 129 ; distribu- 
tive, 130; reciprocal, 130; possessive, 
131 ; retain inflexions, 131 ; used as 
adverbs, 183; concord of, 246; syntax 
of relative, 247 

Prosody, definition of, 35 ; not a part of 
grammar, 36 

Punctuation, rules for, 284 

Q, redundant letter, 48 
Qualitative adjectives, 104 
Quantitative adjectives, 104 
Quasi-passive verbs, 144 
Quoth, 177 

Rather, 116 

Redundancy of alphabet, 48, 55 

Reduplication in the perfect, 159 

Reflexive pronouns, 123 

Relative pronouns, characteristic of, 125 ; 
that, luf'io, which distinguished, 128, 
25 t ; and antecedent, 125; omission of, 
126; syntax of, 247 

Reliable, 267 

Renaissance, 6, 13 

Reported speech, 258 

Restrictive use of relative pronoun, 128, 
251 

Retained object, 144, 238 

Revival of Learning, 6, 13 

Rhythm, 36 

Riches, 89 

Riding, 51, 107 

Roman Conquest of Britain, 2 ; mission- 
aries to England, 5 

Romanic stock, 26 

Runic characters in Alphabet, 59 



s plural suffix, 87 

's possessive suffix, 98; origin of, 100, 

toi ; disguised in adverbs, 182 
Sanskrit, 27 

Saxons, original home of, 4 
Scandinavian group of languages, 26; 

words in English, 18 
Schleswig-HoLtein the home of Jutes, 

Saxons, and Angles, 4 
Score, 107 
Scotch, Highland, a Keltic dialect, 2; 

Lowland, an English diaiect, 2 n 
Se, seo, ihcet, 122 n 
Second, 107 
Self, 124 
Semi-vowels, 42 
Semitic Languages, 28 
Sentences, defined, 193, 210; simple, 
compound, and complex, 194 ; what is 
expressed by, 210; how to correct 
faulty, 239; elliptical, 215; errors in, 
274 
Sequence of tenses, 257 
Sex distinguished from gender, 3c 
Shall and will, 173; syntax of, 256 
Sharps and flats, 41 
She, 122 

Should and would, 173; syntax of, 257 
Sibilants, 44 

Singular nouns distinguished from com- 
mon and proper, 72 ; number, stc 
Number 
Sir, 84 

Slavonic languages, 27 
So, adverb, syntax of, 273 
Solecism, definition of, 24C 
Sounds, elementary, in English, 48; 
consonants, 43 ; vowels, 45 ; mutes, 42 ; 
sonants and surds, 41 ; not sounded 
together, 49; spirants, 42; sibilants, 44 
trills, 44; thin, middle, and aspirate. 53 
classified according to vocal organs, 
44 ; dropped or added to save trouble, 
50; transposition of, 51; significant, or 
words, represented in writing, 54 
Spanish influence on English language, 6 
Spelling in English, difficulties accounted 

for, 58; phonetic, 56 
Spinster, 82 
-ster, 82 

Stocks, meaning of, 25 . 
Subject of sentence, definition of, 210; 
different kinds of, 212 ; enlargement 
of, 213; ellipsis of, 69, 211, 227 
Subjunctive mood, forms of, 146; uses 

of, 147, 261 
Subordinate clauses, 194 
Such, 127 

Suffixes, defined, 200 ; list of, 201 
Superlatives, double, 116; not suggesting 

comparison, 117 
Swine, 88 

Syllables, division of words into, 204 
Syntax, definition of, 35 
Synthetic languages, 66 



3°4 



INDEX. 



Table of Indo-European languages, 29; 
feminine suffixes, 82; plural forms, 36; 
adjectives, 104; pronouns, 120; infini- 
tive forms, 154; tenses, 155; conjuga- 
tion, 165, 166 ; adverbial forms, 182 ; 
shall and will, 256; should and would, 

257 

Ten, 106 

Tense, future in subjunctive, 262 

Tenuesj 53 

Teutonic tribes, Jutes, Saxons, and 
Angles were, 3; meaning of name, 3; 
stock, English belongs to, 26 

Than, syntax of, 272; with relative, 272 

That, the t in, 122; how to determine its 
part of speech, 126; its restrictive use 
as relative, 12S, 251; conjunction, 127; 
omission of, 276 

The, 107; uses of, C09 ; adverbial use of, 
182 ; syntax of, 244 

-ther, comparative suffix, 116, 130 

There, with verb preceding subject, 218 

Third, 107 

Thorn, the letter, 59 

Thou, old uses of, 123 

To, before infinitive, 149; omitted from 
some verbs, 149; should not be sepa- 
rated from the verb by an adverb, 266 

Transpire, misuse of, 267 

Trills, 44 

-trix, feminine suffix, 82 

Turkish language, 27 

Twel7/e, 107 

U, modes of writing diphthongal, 46; 

distinguished from letter v, 60 
Umlaut, 50 
Uncouth, 174 
Utter, comparative adjective, 116 

Verbs, definition of, 134; transitive and 
intransitive, 135; intransitive used as 
transitive, 136; converted to transitive 
by preposition, 136; causative, 137; 
followed by cognate objective, 137; 
transitive used as intransitive, 137; 
of incomplete predication, 137; neuter, 
138; auxiliary, 138, 171; notional, 
138; impersonal, 139; inflexions of, 
141; voice, 142; active and passive, 
1 42 ; alternative passive constructions, 
143; retained object with passives, 144; 
quasi-passive, 144: mood, 144; indica- 
tive, 145; imperative, 145; subjunctive, 
decay of, 146; uses of, 147, 261; tests 
for, 148; infinitive, 149; resembles 
noun, 149; simple and gerundial, 149; 
forms in -ing, 150; gerund, 151; parti- 
ciples, 152; table of forms, 154; tenses, 
155; mark time and completeness, 155; 
simple and compound, 145; table of, 



155; perfect continuous, 156; so called, 
156 ; mode of formation of, 156 ; perfect 
and imperfect, 157 ; advantages of our 
mode of marking, 157; uses of present 
indefinite, 157: weak and strong, 159; 
used as adverbs, 183; number, C58; 
person, 158; conjugation of, 165: de- 
fective, 171; suffixes of, 205; syntax 
of, 253; concord of, 253; with collec- 
tive nouns, 253; with plurals used as 
singulars, 253; implying futurity, syn- 
tax of, 258 

Verbal, misuse of, 267 

Verbal noun, the infinitive a, 149; forms 
in -ing, 150 

Verse, definition of, 36 

Very and much, their adverbial use 
distinguished, 185, 263 

Vixen, 82 

Vocative, 97, 231; in analysis, 218 

Voice, 142 

Vowels, definition of, 39; enumeration 
of, 45; obscure or natural vowel, 45 

W, semi-vowel, 42 

Weak verbs, 159 

Wednesday, the es in, 98, 101 

Welsh a Keltic dialect, 2, 26 

Wen, the letter, 59 

What, 127 ; the t in, 123 

Which, 127 

Who and which as co-ordinating rela- 
tives, 129 ; who and what as indefinite 
pronouns, 250 

Why, 182 

Widozver, 84 

Will, 173; syntax of, 256 

Wit, defective verb, 177 

Witenagemoi shows old genitive plural 
form, icx 

Wizard, 84 

Woman, 84 

Words, definition of, 62 ; number in dic- 
tionary, 15; in use, 15; Keltic, 9; 
Latin, 10; Danish, 18; from various 
sources, 18; how added, 20; imper- 
fectly naturalized, 21, 87; ways of 
classifying, 63; disguised in form, 200; 
wrongly used, 267 

Worse, 115 

Worth, defective verb, 177 ' 

X, a redundant letter, 48 

Y, semi-vowel, 42 ; plural of nouns end- 
ing in, 88 
Yclept, 164 
Ye and you, 123 
Ye for the, 59 
Yes, 181, 227 



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